Alice's loan of her fabulous toy kept me busy for most of the rest of that day. I stopped briefly for some snacks at some time in the evening and I remember a second bottle of wine being opened but the rest was oblivion. I found out what the other buttons did and experimented with them. In the end it was a relief to fall asleep even though I still hadn't changed the sheets. It wasn't until the morning that I remembered about the Linda problem.
I woke up ravenous but lethargic. I drifted around the kitchen nibbling at this and that and drinking far too much coffee. I dragged myself upstairs and finally got around to stripping the bed. I couldn't believe I'd slept in such a mess, but it hadn't seemed important at the time. In the end, with the bed now covered in fresh bedclothes I sat down and looked at the notorious machine. It sat accusingly in the middle of the floor, halfway between the bed and the door. It was then that memories of our conversation came flooding back. I lay back and stared up at the ceiling.
Linda! My first thought was to think no. Something had happened yesterday between me and Alice. Things had changed. She had become more important in my life than simply a playmate. I think and hoped that she felt that too, and I didn't want anything to spoil that. We had come so close to saying something but then we both chickened out. I felt that bringing another into our world might ruin things.
On the other hand, I was prejudging things. I hadn't even met the woman after all. To blank her without meeting her seemed unfair. I should at least offer her that courtesy. Maybe take it slowly and get Alice to bring her round for a chat. I'm sure they would both understand that. After all it would be total madness to get straight into a session with the machine. I dithered about putting off the fateful moment, but in the end it was taken out of my hands when the phone rang. It was Alice and she sounded very nervous, almost frightened, as if unsure of me.
"Hi, it's me," and I could feel her nervous smile even over the phone.
"Hey," I said, trying to sound as welcoming as I could.
"Are we ok?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Errr ... not sure."
"Apart from the fact that I'm still suffering from last night and it's all your fault."
"My fault? What did I do," and again her voice sounded worried and nervous.
"Yeah, your fault," I repeated, teasing her, "lending me that bloody rabbit."
"Oh."
There was a long silence and then I heard her giggle. "You tried it again after I left?"
"More than once."
"Oh my god, that's so bad of you."
"There was fuck all on TV so what else was I to do?"
"What indeed?" and she blessed me with her infectious giggle again.
"I ... errr ... I've been thinking about the other thing we talked about."
There was a short silence. "About Linda?" the nervousness was back in her voice, "its ok if you want to say no," she tried to assure me.
"Far from it but ... I want to meet her first. You know, have a chat and things. Maybe not go upstairs the first time."
"Oh, brilliant. I agree, after all you've never met her. I'm sure you'll like her though."
"When can you bring her round?"
"Not sure. I can phone her straight away and ask her. Oh fuck, you are so good to me."
"Shut up," I replied, glad that my blushes didn't show down the phone, "you do that and let me know."
She hung up and I sat back in the armchair. What an odd conversation that had been. More than ever, I was intrigued to meet this fabled Linda. I was sure I could trust Alice's judgement and that she be lovely, but it was still going to be a nervous wait. I was about to get up and go to the kitchen to refill my glass when the phone rang again. I knew who it was before I picked it up.
"Hi, Alice," I said smiling.
"How did you know?"
"A lucky guess."
"Ok, so I spoke to Linda and she can come this afternoon. We thought about three?"
"Today?" I almost yelped. I was expecting some time in the next few days.
"Sorry, is that too soon? I can phone her again and set another time."
"No ... its ok, it was just a bit of a surprise that's all. Three will be fine."
"We'll see you then." And the phone fell silent in my hand. Now I definitely needed that refill. I checked the clock, and it was just on midday. Three hours to go. I decided I needed to relax so went upstairs and ran the bath. I had a long soak, trying not to let my imagination get out of hand. I resisted the temptation to play with myself for once. That was my usual remedy for stress. The long, scented soak and an orgasm did the trick every time. But today I wanted to stay alert.
I thought long and hard about what to wear and then scolded myself for over-thinking it all. I was just inviting my next-door neighbour and her friend over for afternoon tea. It was nothing more than that. I still chose carefully. We were well into summer and my relevant wardrobe was much prettier and more colourful. Gone were the drab and chunky clothes of the winter. I picked out a simple dress with thin straps. I'd had it for years, but it was light and bright. It was mainly a pale cream with large print red flowers over it. I found myself blushing when I realised I was taking as much care choosing my knickers. In the end I went with a red thong to match the flowers. Was that too horny I thought to myself and then decided to go with it. If things went as planned Linda would never find out after all.
I was like a young girl waiting for her prom date as three o'clock got nearer. I found myself pacing around checking myself in the mirror every five minutes. I started to worry about details, silly little things. I'd opened a bottle of wine but what if she didn't drink. All I had was some orange juice in the fridge. Should I have sorted some nibbles? In the end Alice saved the day.
"I've brought snacks," she said, holding up a plastic bag and charging past me into the living room.
She left me standing by the open front door. I stared after her with my mouth open before I realised that I wasn't alone. Standing on the doorstep was a woman, about my age, looking sheepish. I smiled and remembered my manners. I held out my hand, not really a gesture to formally shake hands but to bring her inside.
"You must be Linda."
She nodded and smiled at me. "Lovely to meet you. Alice told me lots about you. Are you sure this is ok, with the pandemic and everything?"
"I'm sure its fine but come in and I can close the door so no one will know."
I drew her in and shut the door. Still gently holding her hand I led her into the living room. She must be even more nervous than me, poor thing. Alice had already taken over the armchair and was busy pouring wine into glasses and opening packets of crisps and nachos.
"I'll get some bowls for those ..." I began to say.
"That just makes for more washing up," she said, "we can eat out of the packets. Now sit down both of you and have a drink."
I walked over to the sofa and sat down sliding to one end to make room for Linda. As she came over, I got my first real look at her. Alice was right when she'd told me she was pretty. Her hair was a dark red, almost black and her nervous smile lit up her face. I wasn't sure but I felt that she had taken as much if not more trouble over what she wore. She radiated sunshine in a yellow dress. It was similar in style to mine, and I briefly had the naughty thought as I wondered what underwear she had chosen. I mentally slapped my wrists for such wickedness. As we nursed our drinks a silence descended, broken only by the rustle and crunch as Alice started into her snacks. I don't think Alice had spent much time dressing to impress. She had dressed ready for what she hoped might be some machine-based action. She wore a full, almost ra-ra skirt and what was little more than a sports bra on top. On a normal day they'd have both been gone on the way up the stairs. The silence stretched and it was Linda who finally fought through the awkwardness.
"You have a lovely home," she said, looking around the room.
"Thank you."
"Is there a Mr ... errr?"
"Mr Err does not exist," I teased her, "men aren't really my thing. I'm surprised Alice hadn't told you that already. After all you two seem to gossip about everything else."
I knew I was making her squirm with embarrassment, but it was fun.
"Oh no, what has she told you?"
"She told me that she'd mentioned that we have some fun afternoons if that's what you mean."
I glanced at Alice sitting in the armchair. She had a devilishly sexy grin on her face. She was enjoying her friend's embarrassment.
"So, what has she told you?" I asked putting her on the spot.
"She told me that ..." and she stopped and looked down, blushing.
"I told her we have sexy time together," interrupted Alice with a laugh.
Linda nodded. I felt sorry for the poor woman. Alice and I were both teasing her terribly and we should both have been ashamed of ourselves, but it was difficult to stop.
