The Bracelet

Rick and Rob loaded their golf clubs into their cars. Their foursome had just finished third in the club tournament. Their friend, Alan, another member of the foursome, had already packed up and left. Rick turned to Rob and asked, "Are you going to stop by the house on your way home?"

Rob replied, "You got any beer in the 'fridge?"

"You know it," said Rick.

"I'll race you there," challenged Rob.

Rick looked at Rob's brand new Mercedes C63 AMG sedan, and laughed. "Do you think my Jeep stands a chance against that beast?" he asked.

"Only if you take a shortcut cross country," admitted a smiling Rob.

Rob did beat Rick to his house, and as Rick dropped his clubs in the garage and went inside, he found Rob hugging his wife, Kim in the kitchen.

Rob had his arms around Kim and she was trapped against the granite countertop. Kim was laughing and pushing ineffectually against Rob's chest.

"Help, this strange man is molesting me," she cried. Then she added in a lower voice, as she reached down and cupped Rob's crotch, "He's literally got me between a rock and a hard place."

That caused both men to chuckle, and Rob relented and let Kim go.

Kim stepped away from Rob and gave Rick a quick peck on the lips. "How was your golf match?" she asked.

"Not bad. Our foursome finished third in a field of 12 other teams," Rick replied.

Rob jumped in, "be honest, you played for crap today."

"What?" asked Rick, "I shot an 85. That's only three strokes worse than what you did." He handed Rob a beer from the refrigerator, and opened another for himself.

"Yeah, but you usually give me twice that many strokes when we play together," said Rob.

"I know, my game was off today. I guess I was tired from travelling this week," admitted Rick.

Kim snorted and said, "Tired from travelling? You sure it wasn't those two bimbos in New Jersey that didn't tire you out?"

Rick smiled and replied to Kim, "or maybe it was the way that you attacked me this morning when I told you about them?"

Kim sniffed, "Can I help it if I get horny when I get jealous, and I sure as hell get jealous when you find two bimbos to sleep with on a 'business' trip."

"Oh, I get it now," Rob said to Kim. "You're pushing me away because you rode Rick's wonder stick already this morning."

Turning to Rick, Rob added, "and how come I am hearing about these two babes that you scored from your lovely wife instead of straight from the horse's mouth? I know she gave you a blow by blow description of our date with Max, didn't she? I bet that's what got your motor going so early this morning."

Rick blushed and Kim burst into laughter at Rob's audacity. He had, in fact, guessed the exact chain of events that led to Rick being 5 minutes late for his tee time with Rob that morning.

Kim jumped in to rescue her husband, asking Rob what he wanted to do for the party she was planning for him. "Do you want a sit down dinner or something more informal? Rick and I could cook hamburgs and hot dogs on the grill, or something like that."

Rob thought for a minute and said, "I don't want you two to do all the work. You won't be able to enjoy yourselves if you do. I kind of want to impress my friends, too. How about if I pick up the tab, and you arrange for a caterer?"

"Excellent," said Kim, bouncing up and down on her toes. "What's my budget for this soirée?" Kim loved to plan parties, and seldom got to work on one with the kind of money that Rob could afford to spend.

"Do you think ten grand will be enough?" asked Rob.

Rick choked on his beer at the number, but Kim calmly asked, "How many people do you plan to invite?"

"Well, let's see," Rob said, "maybe fifty or so, with their dates."

"Okay, that gives me a budget of a hundred per head. I am sure we can impress your friends for that kind of money, especially if it's a casual affair. " Kim thought for a minute. With that many people, she could get the food catered as a buffet, and buy the booze and hire a couple of bartenders. She also wanted a DJ, and to set up a tent over most of Rob's massive patio in case of bad weather.

"I'm going to call Wendy at Med and see how much it would be for them to do tapas for us." Wendy was Alan's ex-wife, and Kim's best friend. Med was the Mediterranean tapas bar and restaurant that she ran.

"Let me put some plans together, and I will go over them with you before I commit to anything. Meanwhile, you work on a list of names for me of who you want to invite," she told Rob.

Rob smiled, and grabbed Kim in another hug. "I can't believe you are doing all of this for me.".

Rick snorted, "are you kidding? You just gave her ten thousand dollars to spend. I'm surprised she didn't drop to her knees and blow you right here in the kitchen."

Kim calmly interjected, "I already did that for him when he told me I could throw him a party."

Rob and Rick laughed at Kim's confession.

Rob turned to Kim and gave her a kiss. Kim let it linger, then put her arms around Rob's neck. Rick thought it looked like Rob was going to collect on his ten grand again, but Kim broke the kiss and asked him, "Don't you have a date with that girl, Alison, today?"

"Shit!" exclaimed Rob, glancing at his watch. "I am supposed to pick her up in less than two hours, and I have to get home and shower first."

Kim hustled him out the door so he could go home to change, then she turned to her husband, Rick and asked, "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

Rick smiled and said, "Yes, but keep telling me. I can never get enough of hearing you say that." Then he took over kissing Kim where Rob left off.

Over the next two weeks, Kim consulted with Rob via email and phone to complete the plans for his party. Since his birthday was coming up in July anyway, Kim had the brilliant idea to make it a birthday celebration. Rob nixed the idea at first, because he didn't want people to feel they had to bring presents. Kim assured him that she would let everyone know that he requested no presents, and she wore him down on the topic until he reluctantly agreed.

Rob gave her a list of over sixty names that his secretary helped him compile across both his personal and business contact lists. Kim was flattered to see that Rick's parents were on the list, along with her own folks. Rob asked her if she was going to need more money because of the extra names, but she assured him that not everyone would be able to come, and she was still well within her budget.

She sent out the invitations and waited for responses. At the two week date before the party, most of Rob's business associates had responded, but only about half of the guests from the friend list had. Kim was happy to see that over ninety percent of those who responded were planning to attend, and set about making calls to get answers from the rest.

The first call she made was to Alan, one of Rob's closest friends, whom she had heard not a peep from.

"Alan, do you know who this is?" Kim demanded when she finally got him on the phone.

"Hey, Kimmy. How are you?" he responded.

"I'm fine," she responded curtly. "Do you know why I am calling?"

"Uh, nope," was Alan's response.

"Didn't you get an invitation from me for Rob's birthday party later this month?" she asked.

"Oh, sure. I am looking forward to it," Alan said. "I figured you would know that I would be there, since I told Wendy I am planning to attend."

Kim groaned. It was just like Alan to fail to follow up. He was an artist, and so laid back that he was comatose sometimes. Kim couldn't figure out how Rob and Alan ever became friends as kids, and even more to the point, how that friendship lasted when they were such different people. Rob was like Rick, in that they were driven, goal oriented adults. Alan was like a big kid.

"I purposely didn't ask Wendy if she knew whether you were coming, because I want you to learn to be more responsible," she told Alan.

"Oh, okay. I will try to find the RSVP card and mail it back to you," he replied, snickering.

Kim groaned again, "never mind that, I will put you down as a yes."

"Thanks, Kimmy. I can't wait to see you." Alan said, sounding sincere this time.

Kim softened, and replied, "I'm looking forward to seeing you too, baby."

She hung up, and went through the rest of the list. She reached all but three people, and she figured with only those holdouts, she would include them to be safe and give Wendy the final count. She called Wendy at her cell number.

"Hey Kim," Wendy answered.

"Hi hon, I have the final count for Rob's party for you."

"Oh, good. Go ahead, then."

"I have one hundred and six adults, and thirty four kids," Kim told her.

"Got it," replied Wendy. "I'm thinking of about six hot items, and four cold salads on the buffet, with a carving station next to them. For that many people, we can do it for thirty four hundred."

"That includes the serving staff you need, too, right?"

"Yeah, and it also includes two bartenders for the day. I know a couple who will take the gig for a hundred apiece plus tips. They gave me a good price because I told them there would be some high-rollers there."

"That's great!" cried Kim, who hadn't figured out how to find freelance bartenders yet. She had everything costed at that point, and was still three thousand dollars below her budget.

"I just talked to Alan," Kim said to Wendy. "He told me he was planning to come, and figured that I would know that intuitively."

"I have been after him to call you and let you know his plans," explained Wendy.

"I figured as much. Not to worry, I read him the riot act. Listen, you're not planning to work the party yourself, are you Wen?" Kim asked.

"No," Wendy replied. "I will keep an eye on things, but I want to be able to have fun, too. I am looking forward to a Saturday off for a change. I feel like I've been working weekends at the restaurant since I was born."

"Aw, baby, that's terrible. I will make sure you have a good time at the party. You should bring an overnight bag, just in case. I plan to have an 'after party' when the kids all go home, if you know what I mean."

Wendy knew exactly what Kim meant. Though their different schedules didn't allow them to hang out together very often, Kim kept no secrets from Wendy. Kim's plans for an after party were just what Wendy was hoping for, and she particularly wanted to spend some time with Rick if she could.

Kim finalized things with Wendy, then told her she would see her soon and hung up.

Kim reflected on Wendy's strange arrangement with Alan. She thought back to the beginning of Wendy and Alan's relationship, over ten years earlier. They had married young, right after Wendy graduated from college. Kim was Wendy's roommate in college, and met Alan when Rick, who was just dating Kim at the time, introduced them.

Wendy and Alan had a child together less than a year after they married, a boy they named Leonardo. Wendy became the primary breadwinner in the family because Alan preferred to freelance with his art projects. He was very talented, but his lack of drive meant that his income was pretty meager. After five years, they divorced and Wendy moved out with their son, Leo and got an apartment.

She got into working in restaurants and Kim lost track of her because of her schedule. Alan started taking care of the boy because Wendy was working crazy hours six nights a week, and hanging out with the people she worked with after the restaurant closed. A lot of the restaurant workers were hard partiers, and Wendy started drinking with them at after hours clubs almost every night after work. Then she met a black guy who was managing a couple of local nightclubs, and started having an affair with him. He got her into pills, and then harder drugs. Wendy became disorganized and unreliable from the effects of the drugs, and forgot to take her birth control pills. Wendy found herself pregnant.

Not long after that, Wendy showed up on Kim's doorstep one evening looking like hell. Kim sat up all night with Wendy and they both cried until they were exhausted. Kim counseled Wendy to have an abortion, out of concern for how messed up Wendy was and what the stress of having the baby might do to her.

Wendy wouldn't do it. She felt the baby was a wakeup call, and she needed to pay the price for her stupidity. Kim pointed out that having a baby to punish yourself was probably not a good idea, but Wendy's mind was made up. When Alan found out about the baby, he insisted that Wendy move back in with him, so he could look after her and their son while she dealt with the pregnancy and getting straight again. Lacking options, and knowing that she would have to take some time off when the baby was born, Wendy agreed.

Wendy had her daughter, Samantha, seven months later. Samantha was a beautiful little girl with dark skin compared to her blond, fair skinned mother. The guy who fathered the child was married, and had no interest in helping Wendy with her situation. In any case, she had withdrawn from that scene, and came home every night after work so that she could watch the kids the next morning while Alan worked.

For his part, Alan seemed to suddenly flourish. He loved Samanth as much as he did Leo, and started focusing on projects that could bring in enough money to help Wendy support both kids. Alan and Wendy even started attending social events together again. Everyone assumed they were a couple based on outward appearances.

About two months after Samantha was born, Wendy visited Kim with the baby and the two sat talking while Wendy nursed the beautiful little girl. She confided in Kim that since she had moved back in with Alan they got along great, and he doted on both the kids, but there was no romantic spark at all between them. She said she knew he had gone out with other girls after their divorce, and he admitted that he was still seeing one of them. Alan told her that the girl was another artist that he knew.

Wendy said she expressed understanding when he told her this. After all, they were still divorced. She told Alan how much she appreciated him taking her and the kids back, but she realized that they had married too young, started a family too soon, and then found out they had little in common. The pressure of different schedules and social groups was the final element that fractured their relationship, apparently for good.

She said he asked her if she was planning to move out again. Wendy said she would leave it up to him, and asked him if it wasn't affecting his relationship with his girlfriend. Alan shrugged, and said he was not looking for a long term commitment with her anyway. He liked having the kids around, and he pointed out that with their different schedules they would have to shuffle the kids back and forth in order to continue watching them for each other if they lived apart.

Wendy said that after that, she and Alan had sex a couple of times. She thought maybe she owed it to him for being so good to her, and she did still love him as a friend. He seemed distant when they were together, though, and the last time he failed to even get an erection with her. Wendy said she had always been the one to initiate sex in their relationship, so she just stopped pursuing it.

Wendy paused in her recounting of the discussion with Alan, saying, "That's how we find ourselves where we are now; friends living in the same house and raising two kids together, but with no interest in each other sexually."

Kim asked her, "How are you dealing with all of this?"

"When I first moved back, I was so messed up and working so hard to get straight and deal with the pregnancy that it was all that I had the time and energy for. Now that I am feeling better, but Alan is not interested, it is starting to get to me," said Wendy. "I really miss the intimacy that Alan and I used to share, even if I don't feel the same attraction to him anymore."

Kim struggled with what she needed to tell Wendy. She knew that it might damage or even destroy their friendship, and she did not want to lose her best friend.

"Wendy, I have to be honest with you and tell you something," she began. "When you and Alan split up, and you moved out, he got really depressed initially. He would come over and talk to me and Rick, and we could tell he was hurting.

You shouldn't blame yourself for that, though. Even then, he admitted that the two of you made a mistake marrying right out of college. He was more saddened by the fact that he had not accomplished much with himself, and the breakup was kind of the final straw for him.

Rick and I talked about Alan's problems, and Rick told me that, at that point in time, Alan had not been with anyone sexually in months. He joked that Alan had lost his 'mojo' and just needed a woman to convince him that he was still desirable.

I said I could not imagine him feeling that way. You know how attractive I think Alan is with his shaggy blond hair and outgoing personality. Rick was quiet for a minute, then he told me that maybe I could be the one to help Alan get his confidence back. It took me a few minutes to realize what he was implying, but when I did I asked him, 'Are you saying that you want me to sleep with Alan?'

Rick told me that he would only want me to do it if I wanted to do it too. He asked me if I found Alan attractive that way. I admitted that, sure, Alan was a handsome guy, but I was married and couldn't do that. Rick asked me what was standing in my way, if I had his permission and encouragement."

Kim paused, and saw Wendy looking at her with rapt attention as the baby continued to feed.

"When Rick added the word 'encouragement', I was floored. I asked him what he meant. It took Rick a while to find the words, but he finally admitted that he found the thought of me having sex with another man exciting.

I was hurt and confused; I accused him of not loving me anymore and wanting to pawn me off on another man. He wrapped his arms around me and assured me that was not the case. We talked for another two hours. I made him tell me when he realized he felt this way, and he told me that the longer we had been together, the more proud and happy he became from having me as his wife.

He noticed how other men looked at me, and how they responded when I talked to them. He knew that many of them desired me, and for some reason, it made him more excited than jealous. He said he realized that he loved me so much he never wanted me to deny myself any experience that would make give me pleasure.

I told him that I would be afraid of losing him if I did act on his suggestion. What if he became jealous and resentful after the fact, I asked. He said he doubted that would happen, but he understood my concern. Then he proposed something that was so crazy, I actually laughed in his face.

He suggested that the next time Alan came over, he would make an excuse to leave the two of us alone together. He said I could initiate something with Alan, maybe give him a 'thank you' kiss for doing me a favor, and see where it went from there. I could stop the process after a kiss, or make out with Alan for a while and see how it felt to me. Then I could tell him what happened and we could talk about how he felt about it.

I was over being hurt and angry by that point. I did consider telling Rick I thought he needed to see a therapist, but he told me he was so relieved to finally tell me how he felt and have me accept it that I couldn't do that to him."

Wendy put her hand up to stop Kim, "I can see where you are going with this. Just tell me; did you do it with Alan?"

Kim met Wendy's gaze and replied in a quiet voice, "yes."

Wendy sat stock still, thinking, until the baby stopped feeding and started crying. She suddenly stood up and said, "I have to get home. Samantha needs a nap now." Wendy avoided looking Kim in the eye as she bundled the baby into the carrier, and repacked the diaper bag.