Elaine took a sip of her wine. She glanced left and right at the three empty chairs. No plates, no silverware, nothing. Dinners were different for good.
"It's quiet now," she said. Bill nodded, shrugged.
"I mean, we knew it would happen when the twins left for college. I guess I wasn't prepared for it to be this quiet," Bill said.
"So ... now what?" Elaine asked.
"You either get a job or a dog. Maybe you can volunteer somewhere," he said.
Elaine thought about it. She needed something to fill her time. Bill still worked his 40-plus hours a week at the machine shop and she was left alone. She would grumble about running kids to practice, to Scouts, to their activities and events and parties and goings-on. The kids were all out of the house now. She was left with literally nothing to do around the house, she had nothing to complain about. Even laundry took less than an hour once a week with just the two of them. The house was clean, the dishes done, the furniture dusted. Elaine blew a sarcastic raspberry.
"I told myself 20 years ago this moment would finally come. We'd get our house back from the hurricane of children and we could have everything done," she said, more to herself than her husband.
Bill laughed.
"Yeah, everything's done," he said.
Elaine nodded. That was exactly what she was thinking too. Bill wouldn't retire for another three years and she couldn't just sit around the house all day the next 1,000 days or so waiting for him.
"I'll figure it out," she said.
"I know you will," Bill said, nodding his confidence in her. They finished their dinner in near-silence.
"And this way to our gym," Dennis said to Elaine.
"Very impressive," Elaine said, "I didn't know this even existed back here. I live only five minutes away, too."
Dennis nodded. "Our residents like their community. It's interesting how we became
the
place for, functionally, windowed men. We first opened Heritage Manor Independent Living and we figured it would be a place for older active couples but the men flocked here. We geared it for those who wanted to engaged their minds and bodies past 65 and the men came running faster than the women, literally and figuratively. And these are guys who've had wives and no longer do for the most part. I think they find belonging and acceptance being with others who experienced the loss they did."
Elaine nodded. They walked into the wellness center. There were a dozen men, from 60s to 90s, performing a variety of exercise. Machines, treadmills, ellipticals, and free weights were scattered around the space. One man was working a heavy bag and a second hitting the speed bag next to him. Everyone was in decent shape, or better. The gym didn't smell like the place Elaine went for her own exercise. It was clean, the scent of disinfectant underlined by masculinity. No perfume-wearing women came here.
They stepped out of the gym and went to what Dennis referred to as "The Study." It was a large room with beautiful French doors opened wide to face a lap pool. The study breathed warm, fragrant air as a breeze carried the scent of lilacs in from the courtyard. The ceiling was 20 feet hall and spacious. Comfortable leather chairs lined the walls. Bookshelves were loaded with classics and informational reading. A chessboard sat near a large globe and two men frowned at the arrangement of pieces. Two backgammon sets sat on tables to either side of them.
"I'm fairly certain that globe opens and those two keep bourbon in it but I don't push. We have no rules against drinking, just drinking heavily in public areas," Dennis said in an aside to Elaine. "Gentlemen!" he called out to the two men. They looked up and their frowns immediately broke into smiles.
"Hello, young lady," one called out.
"It's not often the fairer sex braves our lair," the other one followed.
"Teddy, for shame. You can't use the word 'sex' in front of a woman. The word is gender, thank you," the first said. His friend had a rejoinder ready to fire back but Dennis held a hand up to stop them.
"Gents, this is Elaine. She will be volunteering her time here within our little community."
Both men looked at her approvingly. And, unexpectedly, they broke into song.
"Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony!" the first man sang.
"Side by side on my piano keyboard, Oh Lord, why don't we?" the second came in.
Together, "We all know that people are the same wherever we GOOOOO!"
Dennis held a hand up to stop them for the second time. They laughed and both danced a little jig. The one, white, looked at the other after a second and focused back on Elaine.
"Hello, I'm Ivory. Or, as Mr. Sachetto prefers," he said, "James Simeon. I have to add my real name so I'm not accused of rampant racism."
The other man, African-American, held his hand out as well. "I'm Ebony, aka Teddy Washington. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss."
Dennis laughed, half-amused, half-frustrated. "These two are the mayors of our private village. They lead the charge with social events, they hold the competitions here, from pickleball to power-lifting, and they're the ones who govern the other residents. It isn't me, even my office door says 'Director' on it."
Teddy make a tsk-tsk sound and James pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.
"Boss," James said to Dennis, "It's better when you don't have to tell people you're in charge."
"I'm Elaine," Elaine cute in, "And it's not Miss, it's Missus, thank you very much."
"Oh?" Teddy said, grin on his face, "A challenge. I like that."
James laughed, "I'm game for one, too."
Dennis cleared his throat but Elaine waved him off with a gesture.
"I can handle myself," she said to him, "And I can handle you two," she said to the grinning men. "You may think you rule the roost here but I'm not impressed."
Teddy's eyes flicked to James who pursed his lips, closed his own eyes, and nodded solemn agreement. Teddy turned his attention back to Dennis.
"We will cordially offer Elaine the position of volunteer for a probationary period of 90 days. Elaine, do you accept our terms?"
He turned and held a hand out. Elaine couldn't help but notice how muscled his forearm was. She took his hand, squeezed and pumped it.
"I accept your terms," she said, tone matching the gravity of the moment.
"With you two running things, I don't know what they even pay me to do around here," Dennis said, looking up to the ceiling, beseeching the heavens for help.
"Neither do we, Boss," Dennis said affably, "Neither do we."
Dennis led Elaine out of the room toward the pool with a slight frown.
"It'll be a pleasure having you," Teddy called to her. She waved her hand over her shoulder.
Elaine was in the middle of telling her story.
"And then Ben, the old Ford engineer, comes in, pulls the Rubik's cube out of James's hands, makes a couple of spins on it, and hands it back. James makes the last move and tosses it to Teddy and demands his money."
Bill laughed, almost choking on his fish.
"Teddy explodes, saying it didn't count because the terms of the bet were for James to complete the cube. Another guy, Don, chimes in says James did complete it, Ben just got the middle part. No one said James had to do all of it."
Bill nodded in agreement. It made sense.
"They appealed to me. I scored in favor of James because those were, strictly speaking, the rules."
"And it was 100 bucks?" Bill asked.
"Yep," Elaine said, "Teddy just pulled his wallet out and tossed five twenties on the table. He crumpled them first. He got up and walked out, spitting-mad. The other five guys all laughed at him on the way out."
"You really enjoy yourself there, don't you," Bill said to himself more than asking Elaine.
She nodded happily.
"Good," Bill said, "I'm glad you found something productive that makes you happy. And it only took a few weeks."
Elaine finally wore her bathing suit, a red one-piece, to the senior center's pool. The sun was burning hot and a dozen or men were camped out in the pool. Lap lanes were repurposed for chest-high wading as the residents sought the coolness of the water.
She strolled out onto the deck amid boisterous catcalls and whistles. She liked the attention they gave her and she was glad there weren't any other women. Jealousy would lead to issues.
James and Teddy led the charge as the men came over to admire her. Compliments about her body, her legs, her poise, her grace, all flooded around her. James planted himself directly in front of her.
"You don't really need this suit, do you?" he asked.
"No, she doesn't," Teddy said from the side, "Let's help her."
The straps of the suit were pulled over her shoulders and down her arms. Hands, liver-spotted, wrinkled, reached out and tugged her suit down off her chest. Her breasts, white in comparison to her tan, tipped dark red with large nipples, came into view and hands reached up to grope her, feel her skin, caress her breasts, her back, her arms.
Her suit came down past her stomach and men again complimented and cheered as it was pulled low over her hips. More hands reached in and Elaine didn't want to cheat their fun. She put her arms in the air over her head, pulling her breasts up tight and allowing everyone access.
The suit was peeled down to the concrete pool deck by confident hands, hands that knew what they were doing. Her pussy, freshly shaven, was exposed. Palms and fingers traced her ass, her hips, and her legs. She stepped out of it, completely nude, and allowed the seniors to touch whatever they wanted. She spread her feet wide on the pool deck and the old men helped themselves happily.
Elaine saw James looking her and she met his gaze calmly. He gestured down. He was suddenly nude, fully erect, a large, thick cock growing out of a patch of gray and white well-trimmed pubes. She knelt in front him, taking him in her mouth, and he smiled encouragement ...
Elaine awoke with a start. The clock said 3:20am. She was wide awake, wallowing in heat. Wetness slid between her legs. She rolled over and looked at Bill snoring. She elbowed him hard.
