Like any other Friday, people in the call center where Kelly worked were wound up and ready to blow out and into the weekend. Kelly's weekend wouldn't be all that exciting. Her hubby, Clay, had left that morning for a week-long fishing trip with buddies from college. They didn't really fish. They drank, got high, played cards and regaled each other with the same stories of their days as undergrads, an annual ritual since they graduated a few years before, class of 1979.
She would have liked to have gone, if only to get away from the city for a couple of days, but she did not like Clay's buddies all that much, nor did they like her. So that pissed her off a little, that Clay got a mini-vacation and she was stuck here. Also, she was depressed, and for a couple of reasons. Nearly a month had passed since the Sunday morning when, after they had made love, she had struggled to say, "Do you realize I orgasm only about ten percent of the time we make love?"
That part of the conversation was about as short, and void of emotion, as recent sessions of their lovemaking. What was weird was how he turned the topic. He said it would be "hot" to see her with another guy while he made it with another woman.
Kelly was 22 and felt life slipping away, or turning weird with his little fantasy. With him gone for a few days at least she'd get to run some errands. Tomorrow, the most important amongst several things, was refilling the prescription for her b.c. She'd run out a couple of days before that last session of making love. She always had been careful about that 'script. She wanted to have kids. That was a topic for discussion, with her husband, that she had abandoned. He did not want to hear about it, saying they weren't yet ready. Kelly was sure he did not want kids because he'd have to give up partying.
Dory had thought the same thing. "Has he mentioned any plans for the future, like the big future you want?" When Kelly hadn't said anything, Dory continued. "You don't need him to start a family. There's guys in this call center who'd be so fucking glad to suck on those tits of yours and knock you up. You just need to divorce that guy. You need to do what you always have wanted."
Kelly had graduated from high school with Dory. They had stayed in touch while Kelly did her undergrad downstate. Dory was the one who had told Kelly about this job. The pressure could be intense, but the pay was decent, once you got the hang of things. Things could get wild, too. If she liked a guy, especially if he looked like he was on the way up, Dory had been known to give out blow jobs during the day in the old cloak room.
Dory had taken the week off, though. She and her boyfriend had decided to try for a baby. That had been convenient for Kelly because when she had complained about a month ago that she had run out, Dory told her to wait. Next day Dory gave Kelly a blister pack of pills, in the round familiar shape, pills arranged by day all around the circle. Dory took the same prescription as Kelly and said the pills otherwise would go to waste. Kelly had asked why these pills, though the same shape, were blue whereas Kelly's always were pink. Dory just shrugged and said they must be from a different manufacturer.
Kelly had run out of those and had to get a refill tomorrow. She ran an index finger over the ring on her left hand. If Dory hadn't taken today off, Kelly would have called her to see if she wanted to go out. She had wanted to take Kelly out and introduce her to some guys. Kelly was pissed off enough that the idea of screwing around made her horny.
One of the lines on the consul blinked red. That meant the Twin Cities desk was calling. Kelly smiled as she picked up the receiver and said. "Hawlings-Beecher."
"How's my pal Kelly?"
Among several friendships Kelly had struck up over the telephones in the year since she had started here, Debi, at their company's desk in St. Paul was the coolest. Dory had been the one to introduce them. Dory had even spent a weekend a couple of months before at Debi's and said it was fun up there.
Kelly and Debi had shared stories and details of their lives. Kelly knew about "the Orange Monster," Debi's funny nickname for her Gremlin, and the old house Debi had inherited from her parents. Then there was Debi's "status": in a relationship that sounded a lot more solid than Kelly's marriage. Debi was soft-spoken, but she could be pretty brassy.
Kelly couldn't remember how it had started or even where they'd gotten the idea, but for a couple of months they'd played a game over the phone. They called it "Only a slut would do that." When one called the other, the signal it was okay to talk was to say "yep" after the formal greeting their company required. Then would come a description of whatever it was that only a slut would do. They took turns, each trying to "one up" the other, and even would say "your turn." Some of the things were silly, acts that defied the laws of physics. Some were gross. Several were outrageously funny. A few, however, turned Kelly on, a fact she never admitted to Debi.
They had swapped pictures, by mail, of each other. Debi was blonde. From one photo, in which Debi wore a bikini, Kelly guessed Debi's breasts were about 34C on a short and small frame. Debi said she had "fuck me" looks.
"Yep. I'm okay," Kelly replied. "Waiting to go home. Maybe read a book. Your turn" Kelly waited. This was, after all, Debi's turn.
"On a Friday?" Debi sounded almost indignant. "Get that hubby to take you out someplace!"
Kelly was thrown off, but only for a second or two. They did not play the game every time they spoke on the phone. "Hubby's gone for a week. Fishing," Kelly explained. "What do you have planned?"
With a sigh of exasperation, Debi said, "I broke up with the guy I was seeing."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Debi had spoken of her boyfriend a lot, like they were quite an item. "So what do you have planned?"
"Seriously? I haven't had sex in over two months. I can't remember the last time I had an orgasm."
Without thinking Kelly said, "I know what you mean."
"You're kidding," Debi said. "You're gorgeous. You should not go without."
Kelly never had thought herself attractive. She stood five two with 36C breasts. Her brown hair was cut short, but not too short. During college she'd lost the weight she'd had since she was a kid. "I'm no steal."
"Why don't you come up here?" Debi suggested. "Fares are cheap right now." A couple of seconds later she said, "There. Done."
"'Done' what?" Kelly asked.
"I just booked your flight. You leave from O'Hare tomorrow morning at 9."
"What?" Kelly was a little pissed. "I can't afford that, no matter how cheap it is."
"Call it a present from me," Debi replied. "I need a buddy this weekend. A female pal. We can hang out. You can boost my spirits and I can boost yours. Besides, when else would you be able to break away for a weekend?"
Debi had a point. "Okay," Kelly agreed. She wrote down the information for the flight. She would claim her ticket at the counter at the airport. "What you got planned, anyway?"
"For real?" Debi's voice was coy. "I didn't know for sure, but now that you'll be up here, why don't we play out our game for a couple of days - play it out for real? Are you 'game' for that?"
Kelly felt herself blush. This friend, whom she'd never met, had to be joking. She decided to play along. "Sure I'm 'game'."
Debi's tone was different when she spoke again. "Cool. Do me a favor, okay?" Kelly said sure. After all, Debi was giving Kelly a free ticket, plus the "favor" probably was minor. "What's the sheerest top you got?" Kelly instantly thought of the sleeveless men's undershirt, a la Marlon Brando in a 1950s movie. She described it to Debi. "Cool. On the flight up here, wear that top, but without a bra."
Kelly heard chairs around her being pushed away from consoles. She looked up. Four o'clock and the day was over. People were done. "You're kidding. It barely holds my boobs in!"
Debi chuckled. "That's the point, silly. You wear a top like that and any guy that sees you is gonna think one thing."
Yeah, Kelly thought, only a slut would wear a top like that out in public. "I can't do that. What if somebody I know sees me?"
"That's easy. Wear a light blouse over it. Once you're on the plane, and you don't see anybody you know, take off the blouse. If you're not wearing a blouse, when you come off the plane, I'll know it's cool for me to give you a surprise. Meantime, try to remember all the things we listed. Better yet? Write them down. See ya tomorrow." Debi hung up.
Kelly nodded and mumbled to people as she went from boiler room to locker to the stop for the 22 bus. She wondered what Debi's "surprise" was. The late July day was hot and the air hung humid over downtown pavement. She looked forward to getting home and changing into shorts and a looser top.
She got off at Diversey. Their apartment was in a four-over-one a block west of Clark. Once home she lit a cigarette, popped open a beer, and grabbed things for her overnight duffel. She picked a couple of pairs of shorts and a couple of tops that showed more skin than was usual for her. When she got to the top she had described to Debi. Kelly felt her face flush even as she chuckled at how brazen she'd have to be to wear it. She pulled off the shirt she had worn all day. Next she unsnapped her bra. She picked up the dago-t. She pulled it over over head and wiggled. She looked in the mirror. Crescent moons of her boobs hung out from either side. She could see the darkness of her aureolas. She saw her nipples start to push against the cotton as she grew turned on. She took it off and laid it on the top of the dresser, along with her shortest cutoffs.