"Oh! Oh, God!" Ed roared as he supported his bulky weight with his forearms and furiously thrust into the petite woman beneath him. Beads of sweat covered his forehead and his face turned a crimson red. "Oh, God! I can't hold out much longer! I'm gonna bust!"
His guttural bellow shook the dust off the knick-knacks on the bedside table. He held himself in place for a moment, and after several violent shudders, he rolled off of his wife and collapsed beside her.
"Ho-lee nutbusts!" he said, gasping for air. "I think I blacked out for a second there! I must have broken a brain vessel or something. I'm seeing spots! Are you seeing spots?"
"Nope," Nancy responded, dabbing her face and body with a tissue, "I think it's just you, big guy."
Still panting, Ed turned on the light beside the bed and looked at his wife. "I mean, that was amazing, right? I thought I held out long enough for you to finish. You did finish?"
Nancy shrugged. "Yeah, sort of."
"Sort of?" Ed repeated. "What does that mean? Either you finished or you didn't."
"I had a little one, I guess," she said. She then smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You did good, stud muffin."
"Well, wait a minute," he said. "This seems a little uneven. I don't need my woman roaming the streets without being completely satisfied."
"Your woman?" she said with a raised eyebrow. "Settle down, Tarzan."
"Come on, let me finish you properly. With the kids out of the house now, you can make all the noise you want. I'll get the Black and Decker."
The "Black and Decker" was Ed's nickname for Nancy's vibrator, which he insisted had the horsepower of a power sander.
"No, it's okay," she said, grabbing his arm. "I'm fine, really."
"Jeez, you won't let me use Ol' Reliable, and you won't let me go down on you. I'm just trying to help you out here, Nan."
"Right, your head isn't getting anywhere near there," she said, waving her hand over her crotch. "Remember what happened last time."
"Jesus, Nan, that was how many years ago? One tiny little fart, and you'll never forget it."
"It was humiliating," she said.
"Hey, if feeling a little breeze on my chin whiskers every now and then is the price I have to pay for keeping my lady satisfied, then dammit, I'll do it."
"I'm fine," she chuckled. "I'm satisfied. You completely satisfy me, okay?"
He peered at her for a moment. "What's the problem? Does all of this not turn you on anymore?" He rubbed his bulging belly in his best impersonation of a male stripper.
"You are ridiculous," she said, "but I still love you." She gave him a sweet kiss and turned away from him.
***
The following Friday afternoon, Ed sat at his desk in his cubicle and stared at a spreadsheet. He was just about to check the time when his pal Artie appeared.
"Hey, you hungry?" Artie asked, draping his arms over the cubicle wall. He wore a ridiculous-looking Hawaiian shirt. Artie always made a habit of stretching the boundaries of TechCorp's "casual Friday" policy.
Ed turned around and raised his eyebrow. "Is that a serious question? Does a plumber lay pipe? That's like asking Pepe LePew if he's horny."
Artie snorted. "Please tell me you brought your chili."'
"Of course," Ed replied. "I have to defend my title! It's been sitting in a crockpot in the conference room all morning, just waiting for you."
"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Artie said. "That chili's not gonna eat itself."
"No," Ed retorted, "but if you're not careful, Frank's ghost pepper chili will eat you from the inside-out."
The two co-workers hurried toward the conference room where several crockpots were lined along the furthest wall. Each crockpot had a sticky note with a number affixed to it. A plastic fishbowl on another table was half-filled with folded sticky notes of various colors. Each of the men grabbed a small plastic cup and a plastic spoon and proceeded to sample from each pot of chili, one after another.
"Well," Artie said, "I can tell which one is yours, but I have to say the nod goes to number three this time. Sorry, buddy."
"No worries," Ed said. "I'm not in this for the fame or glory - or even the $5 gift card for the coffee shop that goes to the winner. No, I do this for the pleasure of providing excellent food for my friends and co-workers."
"What a generous guy!" Artie said, clapping him on the back.
Just then, a young man entered the room and looked around in confusion. "Hey, new guy!" Artie called to him. The young man smiled and joined them. "Ed, this here is Paulie. He just started this week."
"Paul," the young man said, extending his hand toward Ed.
"Paulie, I'm glad you could make it," Artie continued. "See, we have this chili-cooking contest about once a month, and Ed here is practically the reigningβaw, shit." The color drained from Artie's face and his expression instantly morphed as if he had just peeled back the adhesive on an infant's dirty diaper.
Both Ed and Paul followed Artie's line of vision to see what had caused this sudden mood change. Ed's expression instantly mimicked his friend's and he shook his head slowly and groaned. Marching down the hallway toward the conference room was a gangly woman wearing what appeared to be a man's business suit. She had a bow-legged gait, as if she were a cowboy who had spent all morning rustling cattle. There were no visible curves to her figure, and she wore a humorless expression on her grotesque face. She marched with purpose, and was trailed by two assistants who hurried to catch up with her.
"Well, if it isn't Beavis and Butthead," she sneered, looking from Ed to Artie. "Escaped from your mother's basement again, I see." The assistants snorted. "And who's this?" she asked, turning to Paul.
"I'm Paul," he responded, extending his hand. "I just startedβ"
"Are you a wannabe chili chef like these two losers?" the woman spat. Paul slightly retreated. Her breath smelled like low tide.
"Nβno," Paul stammered. "I'm just here to eat."
"Well, I hope you brought your barf bag," the woman snarled. She pushed past the three men, went straight to the end of the conference table, and held out her hand impatiently while one of her assistants hustled to fetch her a cup and spoon.
"Okay," Paul whispered, "who the hell is that?"
"Her name is Pamela Kuntz," Artie said, "but she likes to be called Pammy. She works in the legal department. She's pretty much the most despicable person you'll ever encounter. " Ed nodded in agreement.
"Disgusting!" Pammy shouted after sampling the first bowl of chili. "Completely flavorless. The texture was execrable. I suppose whoever made this thinks he's quite the gourmet, huh? Yeah, inspiring use of green peppers there, Chef Boyardee. One star."