Opening Pandora's Box

Almost two weeks passed as Scott and Greg continued to talk on-line. They agreed it would be best to let Cheryl cool down before anything was said concerning the website or their meeting. The delay was killing Scott. He was anxious to move things along with Greg and after the two weeks he came up with an idea. The next time he spoke with Greg he brought the subject up.

"Why don't you text Cheryl? Something non-sexual just saying Hi. We will see if she mentions it to me," Scott said.

"You think she is ready for that? I am willing if you think it is best," Greg replied. He liked how this was going as far as Scott's reaction. Scott was so anxious to have Cheryl take the next step that he felt he could get Scott to go along with anything. If he could get Cheryl to step out and give it a try this might work perfectly.

"I don't see how it could hurt. You have done this before. You feel her out and see if you can set something up."

"Ok. I will see what I can do and keep you posted.

***************

Two days later Cheryl was sitting in the den putting together a shopping list. Her phone buzzed and as she picked it up she did not recognize the number on the text. Tapping the screen the text message popped up. "How have you been? I enjoyed meeting the other night. Hope I did not scare you off."

She immediately knew who it was and was not sure if she would reply. After a long pause she replied, "No. You are very nice and I appreciate you spending time with us. I just do not think this is a good idea."

"I understand. If it is not something you are comfortable with then it is not a good idea to get into it. Scott said that his admission that he might be a little jealous was what had you concerned," Greg texted back.

Cheryl was taken back briefly. She was not aware that Scott had been speaking with Greg and sharing their conversation from that night. She could not think of how to respond and just sat staring at the text.

After a few moments her phone buzzed again. "I hope I have not upset you. It is my loss. You are a lovely lady and spending time with you in or out of the bedroom would be nice. I have a proposition. Care to hear it?"

"Sure."

"If you are concerned about him being jealous we could easily test that. Why don't you and I meet for lunch. Nothing more. See how he reacts?"

Her initial response was that it was not a good idea but as she was typing she started thinking. Two things were obvious. First Scott had not given up on this idea and secondly Greg was not as pure as he appeared. He was not concerned if Scott was jealous he just wanted to get her alone and try to make something happen. Maybe this was her opportunity to put the whole idea to bed once and for all. Back spacing over her initial response she typed, "Let me think about it. Text me sometime tomorrow evening. Night"

She sat for an hour thinking about how she should handle the situation. Despite herself she could not help but think about Greg and what it might be like to enjoy some time with him. Deciding on a course of action she finished her list and headed to the store.

Later that night as they were eating dinner she brought up the subject of Greg.

"Talked to Greg lately?"

"He has messaged me a couple of times. We have talked a little. How about you?"

"We spoke a little today. I was thinking about going to lunch with him one day next week," she replied.

"Well I am available later in the week but the first part of the week is really bad. The board is in town and we will be working a lot of hours."

"That is not an issue. I was planning on meeting him for lunch alone anyway."

Scott stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth. "Alone?"

"Yea. Thought it would be good to spend some time alone with him and see if we click."

The following silence was heavy as Scott thought about the implications of what had been said. Was this some kind of a test to see if he would back down? Cheryl had tried that before when they were going to meet Greg the first time. Maybe Greg was playing games and trying to get Cheryl alone for a while. He decided to play along until he had time to talk to Greg and determine for himself if this was some kind of a setup. There was plenty of time to call things off if he decided there was an issue.

"Ok. If you can do it later in the week I would prefer to be there but if that cannot be arranged I am ok with it."

Cheryl was a little surprised at Scott's reaction. Was he really going to allow her to have lunch with a guy he knew wanted to take her to bed. She had hoped he would say no and she could call him on being jealous putting a stop to this whole idea. Now she would have to take it a step further to make him realize that this was a big mistake. If he insisted then it would not be her fault if something happened.

Finishing her dinner she got up and put on a pot of coffee and began clearing the dishes. Once that was completed she poured a cup of coffee for Scott and took it into him where he was watching the ball game. Giving him a kiss on the cheek she sat down on the couch and pulled out her cell phone. After a couple of minutes of indecision she text Greg making sure Scott could see what she was doing. After texting for a few minutes she closed her phone and walked to the kitchen and got a cup of coffee.

Scott was not positive but was pretty sure she was trying to make him uncomfortable about including others in their sex lives. He wanted to go see if Greg was on-line but he knew that Cheryl would know what he was up to. Fighting the temptation he continued watching the ballgame until she came back into the room. "Who were you texting with," he asked.

"Greg. We are having lunch next Tuesday."

"That the only time he could do it?"

"No. He had Tuesday or Friday open but I cannot do it Friday so that left Tuesday," she replied.

"Cool. Where are you going to lunch," he asked?

"He is going to come up here and we are going to Copelands."

"You are going to lunch here? You are not worried about running into someone we know?"

"No. It is not likely. Copelands is not in our normal area so it should be safe. Besides you know how I love Copelands."

"Ok. It should be a fun time for you. I look forward to hearing all about it."

Two hours later Cheryl was asleep and Scott was able to get on-line. He sent Greg a message asking about the plans. He waited hoping for a reply but never got one so he finally signed off and went to bed. He was anxious to speak with Greg and see what was going on.

*********************

It was Sunday before Scott was able to connect with Greg. He was slightly irritated that Greg had not responded in the last few days after he had sent 3 messages saying they needed to talk. He had decided that if he did not hear from Greg today he would call the lunch date off and not bring the subject up again to Cheryl. With that in mind he sent Greg one last message asking him to contact him. As soon as he sent the message he got a response back.

"Hey Scott. How are you," Greg replied.

"Ok. Just wondering what is going on. Have you not gotten my messages?"

"Yes but I was hesitant to respond unless I knew you were on-line. I did not want Cheryl picking up our conversation and I was not sure if she had your userid and password. Sorry. I know you are anxious concerning Tuesday," Greg typed back.

"Yes. I am curious as to how it came about that you two are having lunch alone. It seems like Cheryl has gone out of her way to make sure I am not there," Scott replied.

"I can tell you that is exactly what she has done. I think she is trying to prove to you that you are going to be jealous and that it is going to cause issues. She did not actually say that but I can tell that is what she is doing. I thought it best to go along knowing if you wanted to put a stop to it you could. How do you want to handle it?"

Scott thought for a moment. If he canceled the lunch it would play into Cheryl's hands. He did not like the game playing between himself and Cheryl. This was really about the two of them having fun together but it had turned into contest of who could prove something to the other. He knew if he canceled that would be the end of any discussion of including others in the future. If he could prove that he could handle it maybe she would understand that this would not hurt their marriage. He decided to play along at least for a little while.

"Well it is not what I had in mind but I think we should go ahead. I will give her a little room to hopefully dispel the issue of me being jealous. You need to keep me posted on exactly what goes on though."

Smiling to himself Greg knew that Scott was so anxious to get into the lifestyle that he would be willing to give him a lot of latitude. Still he did not have to know everything unless Cheryl told him. "No problem. I will take her to a nice lunch and try to get her at ease. I have done this before so I understand not to press but let it just flow naturally. It may take a lunch or even a dinner or two but I think she will get comfortable. I think she just wants to know that you are ok and that I am not going to drag her into something she does not want to be involved in."

"Agreed. In the future you can respond to my messages. Cheryl does not have access to this account so you can feel free to tell me whatever goes on."

"Great. That makes it a lot easier. I knew you were concerned but I did not want to take the chance," Greg replied.

After a few more minutes of chatting they signed off and Scott felt much better about things. He would not ask about Tuesday until he had gotten an update from Greg. Closing his laptop he walked into the kitchen where Cheryl was looking for something to make for lunch.

"Why don't you get ready and let me take you to lunch. It has been a while since we had a nice Sunday afternoon with just the two of us. We can go down and find a place on the beach and then take a walk on the beach after lunch."

"That would be nice. Give me a few minutes to throw on some shorts," she replied smiling at Scott.

Twenty minutes later they were in the car headed for Atlantic beach. There were a lot of cafe's and they stopped in one and had lunch.

Afterwards as they walked along the beach Cheryl decided to give one last shot at getting Scott to drop the whole swinging idea. "You know. This is what life is about. We have it so good. Our kids are doing well, we are healthy, we are not rich but we are comfortable and unless something bad happens we will be comfortable enough in a few years to retire and travel. Do you really want to risk all that with this idea of yours.

Are you really so dissatisfied sexually that you are willing to take that chance. I have never denied you anything you wanted to do sexually. I know I have never been a fan of you watching porn and things like that but if that is what it takes to make you happy then we can do that. I am just really scared about what could happen if we continue down this path with Greg."

They walked for another hundred yards in silence before Scott replied, "Cheryl I guess I do not see it as a risk. I know that nothing could ever change the way I feel about you and I am confident that you feel the same way. This is not about being dissatisfied it is about trying new things. I know it is a big change but I honestly cannot understand why you would not at least want to try it. I know you enjoy sex and I am sure there are things you would like if you just gave it a try."

"Women just connect feelings with sex more than guys do. I am worried about some lady falling for you or me developing feelings for some guy. If you are dead set on doing this I will give it a try I just do not want you getting upset and blaming me if things get out of control."

"Let's give it a few months. Have lunch with Greg and see if you are comfortable. I will not pepper you with a hundred questions. You go and enjoy yourself and what happens is up to you."

Feeling defeated Cheryl agreed and they turned back to continue their walk back to the car.

*****************

Tuesday Cheryl took a long bath after Scott had gone to work. She was not nervous but had a feeling of melancholy as she thought about what the next few hours could mean. It did concern her that she found Greg so attractive but she would much rather skip the lunch and go to the gym. She knew that Scott would be disappointed so she dried herself off and began getting ready. She wore a skirt with a blouse, nothing to sexy but she felt comfortable in it and knew that Scott thought the outfit looked good on her. Putting on her jacket she left for the restaurant.

When she arrived Greg was already seated and he waved to her as she came in the door. Smiling at the hostess she pointed to Greg and walked over to the booth he was sitting in. Greg got up and hugged her and she slid into the booth on the opposite side.

"How have you been," Greg asked?

"Fine. Except for my confused husband that wants me to play with other people. How about you,"?

Laughing Greg replied, "Well it could be worse. He could have a drinking or gambling problem. I am doing fine. I am really glad you decided to have lunch. It will give you a chance to express your concerns and we can talk about it. Or if you prefer we do not have to talk about lifestyle things at all. We can just enjoy lunch together."

"I guess you are right. Let's just leave the swinging stuff alone today. I am just not in the mood to deal with it."

Cheryl glanced at her watch an hour and a half later surprised at how quickly the time had passed. Despite herself she was really enjoying lunch and was in no hurry to leave. They had talked about many things but none came close to the topic of sex. Greg seemed perfectly happy to just enjoy her company which made her feel a little better about him. She had really expected him to guide the discussion to sex after about ten minutes.

"So are you a confirmed bachelor," she asked?

"Well I have to be honest. I have great respect for men like Scott who work hard and put their family first but I am just too selfish to commit to anyone but me. I know that sounds bad but I guess it is better to realize that about myself than to get into a marriage that is bound to fail. I enjoy being able to come and go as I please. That may change sometime but for the time being I am happy as I am. I like to be able to spoil a lady for a few hours or days and then have time to myself again. That is one reason I like the lifestyle especially with the right couple. I just want to borrow a wife for a while, not have one of my own."

Cheryl could not help but smile at that. It seemed he might be the perfect match for what Scott wanted and someone she would not have to be concerned would get clingy. As she contemplated his remarks he said, "Well, Cheryl we have been here almost two hours and I should make a couple of sales calls. I hope we can have lunch or dinner again sometime. It is rare I get the opportunity to have such a good time with a lady as lovely as you. You have my number. I will not push you but feel free to use it anytime you like. Maybe if you do we can have dinner and go dancing or something Friday."

"I would like that," she said a little disappointed the lunch was ending. "I will see what Scott has planned."

Greg paid the bill and walked her to the car, gave her a quick hug and opened her door.

*********************

Greg was satisfied with how the lunch went. Cheryl was a very sexy lady who just did not realize it. He had been honest with her concerning his commitment to any lady. He enjoyed playing with them and pushing their limits but he had never had any desire to commit to one. Cheryl would be fun to play with for a few months and see just how far he could get her to go but he knew it probably would not last more than a year. Greg really liked dirty nasty sex and something about Cheryl told him that if he could get her started there was not much she would not do. He was not sure Scott would appreciate it but that was his problem. He had also intentionally not mentioned Scott going with them on Friday but rather left it open for her to include him if she wanted.

Getting on-line he signed on to messenger and typed a message to Scott as he had agreed to do.

He hit the send button and before he could sign off he got a response from Scott. He had not expected it but he must have been signed on at work waiting for an update.

"I did not expect you to reply in the middle of the day. I thought you would be at work," Greg typed.

"I am at work. I just signed on to messenger in case you messaged. How did lunch go," Scott asked.

"It went well. We spent almost two hours together. I tried to keep it light and we really did not talk much about the whole swinging deal. I just wanted her to get comfortable."

"Probably a good way to go. Did she seem open to getting together again," Scott asked.

"I think so. I suggested we could all go to dinner or dancing sometime. I am busy Saturday but Friday I am open. She said she would enjoy that. We will see if she gets back to me or mentions it to you."

"We have the board in town this week but they are supposed to leave Friday. We might be able to make it. I will see if she brings it up. I need to run to a meeting. Sounds like we may be back on track. I will update you after I speak with her."

"Great. Enjoy your meeting," Greg replied.

**********************

When Scott got home Cheryl was out by the pool with a drink. That was unusual for her since she rarely drank alone but not unheard of. Scott changed, grabbed a beer and headed out to the pool.

"Hi beautiful. How was your day," he asked as he sat in a chair beside her.

"Fine. Kind of lazy. Did not do much before lunch and even less afterwards. I thought we would just order something delivered if that is ok with you."

"Sure. How about a sandwich from Steakout," he asked.

"Ok. Wait an hour before you order. I want to take a bubble bath and relax before we eat," she replied but did not move to go in.

They were both avoiding the subject but after a few minutes he finally said, "So how was Greg today? Did you have a good lunch?"

"He is good. Lunch was actually much nicer than I anticipated. We were there almost two hours. He is a pretty nice guy. I guess I expected to be fighting him off or talking primarily about sex but we hardly touched the subject."

"That is good. I was hoping you two would get comfortable with each other."

"He wanted to know if we would like to have dinner or go dancing on Friday. I told him I would talk to you," she said as she looked at Scott. "I thought it might be fun."

"Sounds good to me. You decide and just let me know."

"Ok. I am going up," she replied as she got up. "Just order me a side salad. I am really not that hungry."

Scott sat a few minutes reflecting on the conversation. Cheryl did not seem overly excited about going out Friday night but it sounded as if she had a good time today. The fact that she was still going along with the idea was a good sign and it appeared Greg was not the pushy type which would make her more comfortable. After a few minutes he got up and went in to call their order in.

Two hours later as they sat in the den Cheryl contemplated her decision. For her this was the crossroad. If they went out Friday with Greg things would happen that could not be undone. They may not have sex but she had no doubt that the line would be crossed and the damage could be done.

After much thought she finally said, "Scott tell me what you are thinking here. I feel like we are starting down a road and neither of us really know where it will wind up. Doesn't it scare you that I enjoyed lunch with Greg? It does me. I really enjoyed spending time with him. I would enjoy spending more time with him but not at the risk of us. Where do you see this going?"