3. We Plant a Dirty Idea in Allen's Mind
We woke up Saturday morning at about 7:30. Nancy was slightly on edge, knowing that Allen was coming by to take her to breakfast at nine o'clock. He'd promised to bring a condom with him so (he'd been led to expect) she'd allow him have full-on intercourse with him.
For some reason, though, she didn't seem to be looking forward to fucking him today. She said, in the light of day, non-spontaneous sex-by-appointment didn't seem very appealing.
She made a pot of coffee for us while I went down the street and retrieved our car. I pulled it into our driveway so Allen would think what Nancy and I meant for him to think: that the man living with Nancy's imaginary friend Debbie had come home.
[The story we'd invented was that Nancy is a wronged wife from Salt Lake City staying at her friend's house. Her friend "Debbie," supposedly out of town until Sunday, lives with a man named "Bob." Bob was out of town, too, when Nancy arrived Saturday night. But sometime last night he came home.]
Over our coffee we finalized our story. I was, of course,"Bob." I'd be there when Allen came by to take Nancy out to breakfast. I might even be able to wheedle an invitation to join them. The main thing Nancy and I had to do was not reveal that we were a couple.
Allen showed up at about 9:10. He was dressed more or less the same way he'd been dressed last night, though he'd changed his shirt and he wasn't wearing a tie. He was wearing the same sports coat.
Nancy invited him in and introduced me as Bob. I shook hands with him and invited him to sit down for a few minutes in the living room. Nancy, looking delectable in a tight pair of jeans and a sweater, sat down with us.
I explained that I'd just arrived this morning from Napa where I was a minor partner in a business. I figured, rightly, that this account was vague and dull enough for him to accept without asking any questions.
"Bob was surprised to find me here," said Nancy, with a little laugh. "When he got here I was in the downstairs shower. He was rummaging around in the kitchen when I got out. I think he got to see me naked."
"Not for the first time, though" I said. "Have you told him what you and Debbie used to do back in Colorado?"
Nancy did a good imitation of a blush and Allen seemed to blush, too.
"Do you mind if I tell him?" I asked her.
"No. I'm not ashamed of it. It was a good way to make money without working too many hours. It freed us up to study."
I launched into our agreed-upon story: "Nancy and Debbie were at the University of Colorado together. They even roomed together for a while. Anyway, since they were, and still are, total babes, they used to work bachelor parties and other parties that involved them stripping and dancing for a bunch of guys. It was pretty easy money. I was dating Debbie at the time, and I used to go with them as their driver and body guard."
As I said this, in order to seem somewhat credible, I tried to look as physically imposing as I could. I'm a little over six feet tall and weigh maybe 190. But I've gotten a little soft in the past three years.
"I may have to go back to something like that again," said Nancy. "I've decided to divorce my asshole husband and I'm going to need to make some money. It's a good thing, I guess, that he didn't know about my checkered past when we met. But now I don't care what he knows. Maybe I'll become as promiscuous as he is."
Supportive friend that I was, I eagerly agreed to the idea: "You still look great, Nancy. You could easily go back to it."
"We'll see what happens," she said noncommittally. Then, looking at Allen, she asked him, "Should we go now? Bob recommended a restaurant in the neighborhood and I think I can find it." She held a slip of paper in her hand on which I'd written directions to a place we like on Clement Street.
As Nancy and Allen stood up to go, Nancy turned to me and asked me if I'd like to come with them. Allen looked down at the floor. He probably didn't want me trailing along, but I had some privileges as Nancy's old, supposedly non-sexual, friend.
"Sure," I answered. "We can go in my car. Then you won't need driving directions."
As we climbed into our car, Nancy in the front with me and Allen in the back seat, he explained that he had to park his car almost two blocks away. Parking is pretty tight in our neighborhood.
We sat down together at the Clement Street Bar and Grill and were served a very decent breakfast. Nancy sat next to Allen and I sat across from them. As we ate, we chatted a little about Allen's work. As a conversationalist, we discovered, he was pretty boring. So Nancy resumed talking about what a bastard her husband was. She kept repeating how she really wanted to get even with him, even though she knew this was not a psychologically mature thing to do.
I asked Allen if he and his fellow trainers were having a good time at their convention. He said it had been pretty dull, actually. If he hadn't met Nancy, it wouldn't have been any fun at all.
"Aren't there any parties or anything?" I asked him.
"Well, not many. There's a birthday party for a guy I know tonight at the hotel. I'm not sure I'm going, though." He looked at Nancy as he said this. He was obviously thinking that the two of them might get up to something more exciting than a birthday party.
"Is it going to be a raunchy or a well-mannered party?" asked Nancy.
"Well, you know how a bunch of men are. These things can get a little out of hand."
Laughing, she said, "Like the parties Debbie and I used to work. Mostly there wasn't any trouble, but sometimes guys, especially college guys, got pretty physical with us. And then we'd see them on campus and it could be sort of embarrassing."