It was Saturday evening, Dani had arranged a little party for six of us: Jenny and her husband, Richard, Alan, me, and a 'mystery' guest, my date for the evening. I could only think of two people it might be, either April who I'd suspected had ridden from Tampa with Alan, or Rebekka, the salesgirl we'd met in Castle, the adult store in Kennewick. Or maybe, the mystery girl from that night with me tied to the chair.
And then it dawned on me, the reason I'd been uneasy about this evening. It would be the first time that Dani's relationship with Alan would go public. Not 'public' public, but you know what I mean; Jenny, Richard, and my mystery date, whoever she might be. I imagined that Dani had already told Jenny about Alan, but hearing and seeing are two completely different things. I fully expected that Dani being Alan's woman would be on full display tonight.
I hoped so, it was turning me on that Jenny would be watching her best friend with Alan Ryder. Hopefully, Dani 'with' him -- intimately, the thought growing an erection poking at my pants, making love or fucking. No, tonight was going to be for fucking, hardcore. I don't know how, but somehow, I knew that tonight was going to be life-changing. Something, I had no idea what, was going to happen before the night was over but something that was going to be momentous!
The doorbell brought me out of my reverie, Jenny and Richard. It took me a few minutes but I eventually realized the dress Jen was wearing was the same dress I'd seen that night last October, Homecoming, the night she'd been crowned princess and Daniella queen, the night that had started all of this, when I'd gone back in time and watched Daniella and Alan.
And then Dani came downstairs... wearing the dress she'd worn that night, too, the dress Alan Ryder had watched her take off right before she lost her virginity to him, the very same guy who was standing beside me, thirty-one years later.
My mind went back to that night, Dani in that dress, eighteen years old. Her and him, Daniella's bed. Would that night be reenacted? This time with an audience? Was that my premonition?
As Alan, Richard, and I stood gawking at Jenny and Dani, wearing their sexy, high school homecoming dresses, makeup making the both of them seem so much younger, the spell was broken with Alan exclaiming, "Babygirl!"
Then the doorbell rang, "You better get that," Daniella told me. Even her voice sounded younger, "that'll be your date."
I'd been so curious all week. Now that it was time, whoever she was, standing right outside our door, I couldn't move. My feet felt nailed to the floor. "You going to get the door?" Dani asked me, sounding more than a little frustrated that I hadn't even moved. The doorbell rang again, "Answer... The... Door..." Dani told me, this time with force in her words.
I'd never felt leaden feet like those were but slowly made my way to the door, gripping the knob. If it'd been April, wouldn't she have come with Alan? My heart was pounding when I turned the knob and pulled it open.
"Betty?" I gawked, 'frumpy Betty'! Except this woman wasn't 'frumpy', not in the least. Betty, the woman who does our bookkeeping, who makes sure our store runs smoothly. She comes in every Friday, all day, wears nothing except loose-fitting, shapeless sweatshirts and pants, no makeup -- ever.
Except she didn't look anything like that at all standing on our doorstep, "Betty," I smiled at her, "come in, wow... you look..." I couldn't even think of an appropriate word, "gorgeous!" was the only word that came to mind, and wow, that didn't even fit. This was NOT the Betty Ford I knew!
It dawned on me, Betty! She was the girl with Dani that night I'd been tied up on the chair, had to have been! How else could she be here tonight? No wonder she'd never spoken that night, I'd have recognized her voice in an instant. Dani sure as hell hadn't been lying when she told me later that I knew the woman, but I'd have never, ever have suspected Betty.
She stepped in, and I put a hand behind her back, guiding her into our living room, introducing her to our other guests and them to her, my store's 'office manager' I told them. She doesn't actually have a title but if she had, that's what it would have been. Betty and her husband had divorced several years earlier, "Nothing acrimonious," she'd said back then, "we just grew apart." I'd had no idea about her love life since then.
Dani was smirking, enjoying every second of the shock expressed on my face. 'Frumpy Betty' was wearing a long dress, tight, slit about three-quarters up her left leg, light green satin, and why hadn't I ever noticed her gorgeous green eyes? Maybe because she'd always worn dark-rimmed glasses, and her red hair had always been up in a bun instead of flowing around her shoulders like it was now.
I never knew Betty's age, it never mattered, she was just good at her job, and very pleasant the days she was in the office. Now, she looked ten years younger, at least. I dunno, maybe mid-thirties?
I couldn't take my eyes away from Betty, this was a woman who, in the years I'd known her, had NEVER worn anything even hinting at a feminine figure. But wow, this dress demonstrated perfectly what I'd never have imagined was under those sweatshirts and sweatpants.
Someone else in the room seemed entranced by 'Frumpy Betty' -- Alan. When I introduced them, he took her hand, which I'd never realized was quite so slender, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back, giving her a slight bow, "You're a beautiful young lady," he said. I took a quick glance at Dani, maybe a little frown on her face? Touch of jealousy?
"Thank you," Betty told him, her face turning a shade of blush. She seemed more than a little embarrassed by his attention.
"Guess I'd better get the pizza in the oven," Jenny announced, moving into the kitchen. Somewhere along the line that I hadn't noticed, the oven had been preheated. She'd brought along two pizzas, both with her homemade sourdough crust. I'd eaten her pizza before, smothered in good stuff, not exactly the stuff of dieting, but once or twice a year, not so bad on a guy's handsome physique.
While we waited for the pizza to cook, God, it already smelled good, we sat down in the living room; Dani and Alan on the couch, Betty and I on the loveseat, Jenny in the recliner, and Richard drug in a chair from the kitchen. A moment later, Dani and Alan got up, "I'm fixing some rum drinks, anyone not want one?" Alan asked.
"And I'm bringing brownies," Dani said.
We all agreed that both sounded good. However, Dani and I were the only ones who understood what the combination of the brownies and rum would do. It was fine with me, but I was waiting for one or the other to mention that they might have some effect on, shall we say, one's mental outlook... along with certain portions of the anatomy.
I heard giggling coming from the kitchen, "Later, hands off!" Wonder what that was? I could guess. Then the whirring noise from the mixer, and Dani reappeared carrying a tray of brownies and six small plates, a brownie on each. "I like a little dessert before dinner," she said, before going on, "just a fair warning, though, these may have a little effect on one's... umm, libido," Dani said as she took a big bite out of a brownie.
Jenny smiled, "Yumm," took a bite, "might I ask, what's in it?" she asked. They did have a bit of a 'different' taste.
Dani grinned, "What, you don't trust me?" She went in the kitchen, retrieved an unlabeled pint jar, bringing it into the living room. "This, perfectly safe, you want to take a little home?" I couldn't help but smile, as if that explained what 'it' was. "You... probably can't buy it at Walmart," Dani told her, with a smirk on her face.
"Mmm, see how it goes," Jenny said.
That was when Alan brought in another tray with six glasses of drinks, they looked like slushies, "Smidgeon of rum, a special coconut rum from Guatemala, coconut water, lots of ice, and a dab of vanilla," he said.
