Roger nods briskly. "Whatever Claire whispered surprises him for a second. Then he gives her a big smile. He tilts her chin up with his fingers and gives her a very sexy kiss. God, that was hot. That's when I knew. About two minutes after that Franco comes over to me. He thanks me for my service and asks if I could do him a little favor. This was it!"
"I cannot believe... how on earth did you handle it?"
"Well, of course I said yes," which missed my point, but I let him continue. "Claire was watching us as Franco spoke, making sure I didn't screw up somehow. But I didn't. I just asked what favor and said how I'd be glad to help. And Franco says he's been too busy to do his lawn the last two weeks and would I mind taking care of it, just a piece of the lawn out back? And I'm like of course, no problem, even though we all knew, there were two other husbands standing there listening, the kind of wealth these guys have, there's no way Franco doesn't have a gardener or a whole crew of gardeners who could do it. Then Franco winks at me. See, he intentionally let it get out of hand to give me something to do."
"Kind of him."
"Don't be snide. You want to hear it or not?" Somehow Roger got that one.
"Sorry. I do. Got on."
"He was definitely ready to go up, upstairs where all the bedrooms are. I think he had waited a while to give Claire extra time to get herself calm, to get ready. Which I appreciated and I know she really appreciated. I think at that point there was only one other couple left downstairs, and all of those other husbands were busy doing..."
"Jesus. You mean all of you husband guys were sent out to do these chores?"
"Oh, no. Not all of us go out. But the newbies always do. The guys have learned that the newbies tend to get, kind of, you know, overexcited, emotional or whatnot. Which can lead to bad behavior. So they always send out newbies at least their first two or three times there. Maybe a few of the senior husbands too, depends what they need done. But there'll always be a few of the senior husbands left, maybe a couple cleaning up after the social hour, someone running drinks up and down, or tidying rooms, running clean sheets, that sort of thing. It works out."
"Jesus. Sheets? And then?"
"Well, Franco went back and took Claire by the hand and headed toward the staircase. I actually saw her go up a few stairs, and she glanced over at me quick. She still looked a little nervous, but incredibly pure and pretty too. Her face was shining, her hair and makeup perfect, her lips that pretty red she wears. I loved the outfit she had on, she went with yellow, so sexy and lady-like how it concentuated her bust and her little waist. Claire smiled to me. Nice! I had to shake myself. That was my cue and I needed to get out quick. They made sure I knew to do that. They're very detail oriented."
"Really have thought it through."
"That they have my friend! That they most certainly have! On my way out the other husbands are slapping me on the back, wishing me well, you know a first-timer. It's a kind of brotherhood that way. Finally I get out and I'm driving over to Franco's. Gotta admit my mind was racing like sonofagun. All I could think of was those two on the stairs, and what it would be like when they went in the room. And then I'm thinking, trying to picture it, but thinking not yet, not yet, not yet."
"My God that must have been..."
"Thinking how wonderful my wife looks in that yellow. But not yet, know what I mean? Then I start wondering do they chat first or just, you know, immediately...? I was picturing Claire putting on her makeup that morning, thought that might calm me, but it didn't help at all. Then I tried thinking about the game last night. The Jays game. Guess what? I couldn't remember a thing about it. All I could think was not yet! Fifteen minutes into the drive I'm like maybe by now? Then, no, probably still too soon. But maybe? It was certainly possible. Kind of drives you a little nuts not knowing, haha! I mean first time. I tried thinking about Joe DiMaggio but couldn't. I was hoping Claire wasn't too nervous to enjoy herself, hoping that Franco would enjoy himself and be nice to her. He seemed pretty nice when I talked with him. I was getting close to his place and I'm still thinking probably not yet, but maybe they have at least started something, like kissing or touching her breasts. There are no buttons on the front so they'd have to..."
"Wow. That is...Jesus!"
"Yes, He was there to help me or it would have been much tougher."
"Jesus!"
Roger gives me a disapproving look but goes on. "Anyway, I finally got there, to his house I mean. Franco has this beautiful home over in Glenwood, oops don't quote me on that. Must be 6 or 7 acres on this nice country road. When I got out I had to laugh, which was good, distracted me a little from thinking about Claire. I was laughing because the entire lawn, the flowerbeds, the plantings, everything was perfect. I had to look around for ten minutes before I found this one little patch way out back he left for me. Once I saw it I'm still laughing but then I was finally able to focus, because now I could see what Franco needed done. I went into his shed and got this rusty old hand-mower, kind everyone used to use. He must have had it from the olden days, sure doesn't need it any more from the way the rest of the property looked. And I bring it out and start mowing."
"Jeez, pretty rough on you."
"You've got that right Bill cause man it was hot that day, especially after leaving the AC in the mansion and in my car. The mower was a sunofagun to manage..."
"I meant..."
"Got it, agree, a real sonofagun what with the rust and everything. I'm sweating and wondering what my pants and shirt will be like when I get back. But I understood. Naturally the guys wanted me to take a certain amount of time. Which I did. Went over it a few times, made it nice as possible. But you know how those old mowers leave the grass a bit chewed up? It really bothered me, cause of how perfect the rest of the property looked. But it was the best I could do. I checked my watch. I'd been gone just over two hours."
"So by then th...?"
"You know what's funny? I wasn't even thinking about it by then. Just that it wasn't time yet to go back. They told me to stay out a solid three. But then it did start bothering me quite a bit."
"I bet."
"Yes, that mower. Back in the shed I cleaned the blades best I could, got a lot of the rust off. Then I found some tubricating oil and I gave her gears a good dose. Got them all nice and slick and easy, got her running sweet, purring like a little kitten. See I figured it might be another man next time and I wanted everything perfect for him, so when he stood behind her and gave her a solid push, puts his hips and butt and thighs into it, she'd really perform for him, those gears spinning easy and fast and smooth, and the machine humming through that soft grass. I felt better. It all made sense to me. I just wish I had thought of it before I almost strained my ribs."
"Thoughtful of you."
"I thought so too. By then I'd been out two hours forty minutes. Another 20 minutes back to the mansion and I'd be just at the three hour requirement. So I stowed the mower, checked the lawn again, and took off. Got back to the mansion and washed up best I could. Then they tell me to help run some of the laundry, which was a pain and takes another 25 minutes. I can tell you that laundry was interesting. And then after I was done with that, one of the guys told me I could go up and see my wife."
"Jesus."
"Yeah, thanks Bill! It was awesome. They told me that Franco and Claire had the green room. See, they're all color coded, this little plate on the door, to help us. I went right upstairs. I know I was shaking a little, but I remembered to brush down my pants and shirt again, look as good as I could given what I'd been doing. I found the right door and knocked softly. Maybe too softly cause at first I don't think they heard."
"Jesus!"
"Yeah. So I tried again, a little more forcefully. This time there was just a tiny delay and then I heard Franco saying come on in."