Spring was in the air on an unseasonably warm Wednesday
afternoon in mid-March. Mary, ready to put the frigid winter weather in the rearview mirror, was wearing her cutoff denim shorts, pink tank top and black, high heeled sandals, when she walked into the bar where her friend, Jill, worked.
Typical of many neighborhood bars in the city, it was small, dimly lit, and narrow, sitting on the ground level of a corner row home. Though it had a loyal local clientele, the bar had a limited selection of alcohol and only a small TV mounted on the wall just below the low drop ceiling. A shuffleboard table sat on the far end, along with two video poker games that saw plenty of action.
Mary, the married, 52-year-old, redheaded, former lingerie model, had not been to the bar to see Jill since shortly after Phil McInerny's passing, a year and a half ago, and had not spoken to her since last summer.
"Hey Mary! It's been a long time!" Jill greeted her as she stood behind an otherwise empty bar.
"Hi Jill!" Mary replied, enthusiastically. "I've missed you and I feel so awful that I haven't made time to stop in to see you!"
"No problem, Mary. Grab a seat. We're all busy, you know." The friendly, tall, curvy brunette said to her long-time friend, going back to their days working at Big PharmaCo.
"What can I get you?"
"A Mexican Lager, please, with lime." Mary responded as she put a ten-dollar bill on the bar.
"You got it, girl!" Jill responded. "How are things with you and Steve?"
"Things are great with Steve and me. We've rediscovered each other. So much has happened since I last spoke to you."
"I want to hear it all, Mary! Tell me all about your hotwife life! Are you still fooling around on the side and giving Steve the details when you get home?" Jill said as she pulled a beer from the iced cooler below the bar and opened it.
"Well, I did meet several really interesting men, with really huge cocks!" Mary said, laughing.
"I'll bet! Are you still seeing Tommy?" Jill said as she pulled a lime from the fridge and began cutting it into small wedges.
"Actually, Jill, no. We haven't spoken in over a month. I don't really want to talk about it."
"Mary!? C'mon sweetie. Out with it."
"Oh, okay. We had a bit of a falling out. It is a misunderstanding as far as I'm concerned, but Tommy is a prideful man."
"Oh Mary. This sounds like drama. What happened?" Jill asked as she stuck a small wedge of lime into the bottle and pushed it toward Mary, who plunged the lime into the beer, and took a big swig.
"Between my family, the kids, Steve, my art, and frankly, some of the studly men I met last summer, I fell out of touch with Tommy. Steve and I had some hard conversations about things that happened with some of the men I met and fooled around with."
"Oh my gosh Mary!" Jill said, picking up the ten and walking toward the cash register on the other end of the bar.
"Steve and I decided, on New Year's Day, to press the pause button on the whole hotwife thing and go back to monogamy, at least for a while."
"Umm, monogamy, huh?" Jill said, looking at Mary skeptically. "So why the falling out with Tommy?"
"Oh, yes. Tommy had been bugging me to come over, practically begging. Finally, last month, I gave in and went over to his apartment for lunch."
"Last month, huh?" Jill said, smirking.
"I was just going over for lunch, Jill." Mary answered with a perfectly straight face.
"Oh, ok. I'm sorry." Jill responded.
"Okay, Jill. When I got there, I realized the poor guy was so desperate for me."
"Oh Mary!"
"Well, I figured we'd have a quick fuck, to you know, give him some relief and then we'd order hoagies from the deli near his place, and that would be that."
"Yeah? What happened?"
"He had taken one of those male performance pills without telling me!"
"Oh no, Mary!"
"Yes! He just kept fucking me. Jill, I'm telling you. It was great at first. But then he just kept going. He came on my tits and started fucking me again! He absolutely wore me out!"
"I know, Mary. I've been there."
"Finally, after like, an hour, I said, we must order lunch! I mean, seriously, Steve was on his way home from a three-day business trip and he's always pleading for it when he gets home from one of his trips. I wanted to save some energy for him!"
"That's a good sign that you thought of your husband and stopped yourself. It shows maturity."
"Thank you, Jill."
"You're welcome. "
"I was so angry at Tommy for taking one of those pills and not telling me!"
"Seriously, you deserve credit for bringing it to closure and saving yourself for Steve later that night!"
"Oh, I had nothing left for Steve that night. Tommy took me doggy style for, like, another hour after lunch. By the time I got home I could barely walk! When Steve got home, I told him I had a headache and went to bed."
"Oh. Well, it's the thought that counts."
"I've made it up to Steve since, trust me." Mary shot back. "In fact, Steve and I have achieved a higher level of sexual connection! He understands that at our age it is not all about sex all the time. He supports my interest in art. He knows I like to read fiction. I know he likes watching sports all the time, over anything else! But, Jill, about two or three times a month, Steve makes slow, sweet love to me before we go to bed. It is wonderful and I love it. And you know, that's pretty much my speed these days."
"I'm right there with you, Mary. That's about how often I have Brian over. So, why are you and Tommy not speaking?"
"Oh, yes. I submitted a vase that I made to an online charity auction that my local art center was sponsoring, and a mystery buyer paid $7500 for it. As I was leaving his place, I noticed the vase on his mantel, behind a golf trophy. I was in disbelief!"
"Are you serious, Mary? He paid $7500 for your vase?"
"He didn't but tried to tell me he did. I told Tommy that I think he's far too practical a man to spend $7500 on a vase that I would make him for free if he wanted one."
"What did he say?"
"I could tell by the expression on his face that he had no idea the vase sold for $7500! His longtime friend, and now former, business partner, Nathan, purchased it to decorate the bar they were buying together. Tommy was clearly embarrassed that I called out his lie."
"Oh, that's too bad, Mary."
"That's not even the worst part! He called Nathan, in front of me, and questioned his eye for art and his business acumen!"
"Ouch! That escalated quickly!"
"In Nathans defense, Jill, I've been in his home. It is very tastefully decorated with some really great art!"
"Um. That's great Mary. Is he trying to get in your pants too?"
"Ha. I don't need to worry about Nathan. He's a man of integrity, a true gentleman. He and Tommy decided to end their business relationship though. Nathan is going to move on without Tommy and open the bar himself."
"Wow Mary. That's a lot of strife to have on your conscience."
"I do feel bad about that whole thing. On the bright side, though, Nathan offered me the weekday bartending position. I'll be serving drinks down the shore all summer and staying at my cousin's house near the beach! You'll have to come down and see me!"
"That's great, Mary! Hey, Brian's on his way here. You should stick around and have a drink with him!"
"I'm so glad to hear that you and Brian still hang out together! How are all those guys from shipping and receiving doing?"
"They're all the same. I think Dave is coming with him."
"Dave? You're kidding me, Jill! It's been such a long time! He and I started working at the company at the same time."
"He always had a thing for you, Mary. Most of those guys did!"
"They were always fun. Dave texts me now and then but I haven't seen him since I left the company."
"I guess Dave is the only guy at work that you ever had a fling with, wasn't he, Mary?"
"Well, not the only one. Several years ago, there was this younger guy from accounting. We got to chatting at the holiday party."
"Really? I didn't know any of those guys. What happened with him?"
"I wasn't as wild with him as I was with Dave, but I did give him a blowjob in his car that night."
"Wow. Did you ever hook up with him again?"
"No. I didn't but a couple of weeks later I received a lunch invitation from another young guy in the accounting office that I had dealt with on occasion. I ended up giving him a blowjob in his car in a public park!"
"Oh Mary. Do you think-?"
"After that I got the hint and politely declined lunch invitations from the other four guys that worked in that office."
Jill laughed as she looked out the window and saw people walking in.
"Well, you won't have to wait any longer to see Dave because Brian and him are walking in now!"
Mary turned to the door and saw her two former co-workers enter the bar. She stood up and gave each a hug.
"Hey Brian! Hi Dave!"
"Hey Mary!" Said Brian.
"Yo, Mary!" Followed Dave.
Each man gave Mary a hug and a quick kiss on the lips.
"It's been too long, Mary!" Dave said.
"It has!" Mary responded.
Dave turned to Jill.