The Ladies Who Lunch
Part 2
The Dorothy Simms Story
It was another lunch, followed by another gathering for coffee, as was now the custom.
This time, the hostess was Dorothy Simms, a forty-six-year-old housewife, mother and spouse to Graeme, a retired stockbroker and three decades older than Dorothy.
This is Dorothy's story.
Well, my husband Graeme is well into his seventies now. So, our sex-life is a mere memory now!
I'm sure you can imagine the consequences: erectile dysfunction, and loss of libido due to reduced testosterone, in old age!
A wave of giggling and a few sighs of sympathy rippled through the assembly of friends. In view of the age difference between Dorothy and her husband, whatever shortcomings their own partners had, were undoubtedly magnified in her case.
Yes, I see you can all relate to that!
But the sad irony of that, ladies, is as I'm sure you're all aware, while our menfolk's' sexual drive and capacity diminishes, our own libido increases with age!
Some barely restrained guffaws and a few, knowing nods emanated through the female gaggle.
Now, my own, personal paradox is that, when I was younger, I used to go for much older men, whereas now, my taste has reversed and the older I get, the more I fancy much younger men!
What is it, they call mature women who have the hots for younger men?
Amongst the epithets that her companions helpfully volunteered, were:
"Cradle snatcher!" "Sugar Mummy!" and, "Cougar"
Yeh, cougar! I guess I'm a closet cougar who'll pounce on a sexy young stud-muffin, given half-a-chance!
Little did I know, but this opportunity unexpectedly presented itself...'
"Do tell! Do tell!" her companions chided in unison.
Okay, okay! Well, where do I start? Dorothy pondered.
"At the beginning", somebody chipped in.
Have I ever mentioned my friend, Isabella? Isabella is a very attractive Spanish woman.
She's my next-door neighbour and very close friend.
She was married to an Englishman, whom she divorced him on the grounds of infidelity - he was screwing his 23-year-old bimbo secretary - his loss, because Isabella is stunningly beautiful.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, the weekend was coming up and Graeme was going up to London with his nephew for their annual pilgrimage to the Oval, for the opening of some, 3-day cricket test match, or other.
So, I rang Isabella on the Friday night, to see if she wanted to go for lunch on Saturday and generally hang out downtown, catch a show or wotnot.
"Darling, you must be a mind reader",
she said,
"I was about to phone you!"
She went on, to ask if I'd like to go with her to a party in Hove on Saturday afternoon. I asked, what sort of party it was, and would it be okay for me to turn up uninvited?
"Don't worry about that, you'll be my guest! As to, what sort of party it is, it was the kind where you eat, drink, are well looked-after and generally have a good time! Don't fret, it'll be fine. Trust me!"
Well, how could I refuse? I had nothing better to do in any case.
So, I agreed and asked what I should wear. I wanted to be sure that I was in line with the dress code, at least. The last thing I needed was to stand out in a crowd of strangers.
She told me to dress as if I were going to the wedding of a family member, or close friend, and to be ready to be picked up by 12 o'clock.'
And so, decked out in the nifty little two-piece I wore at my niece's wedding last month, I was picked up by Isabella, as planned.
Although the impromptu, out-of-the-blue invitation to the mystery party intrigued me, it also left me with a sense of unease so, I quizzed her enroute, all the way to the venue.
"Oh, you'll see, and you can thank me later!"
was her stock reply to all my queries
.
Well, we finally arrived at the venue. It was a huge, Victorian mansion which oozed affluence and class, set in its own grounds. There were several high-end motors parked in the forecourt. You know, Jags, Mercs, Bentley's and one or two Rolls.
I was thinking,
"Wow! What is this place?"'
I was soon to find out.
The house belonged to our hostess, the widow of a wealthy businessman who'd left his substantial fortune to her. Our hostess was an attractive and very personable woman in her mid-fifties.
The other guests were mostly women about my age, a few older ones.
There were no men present, other than a few, much younger men - some of them looked like they were barely out of their teens - who were fetching and carrying food and drink for the female guests.
"Must be the catering staff",
I guessed
.
Though, they weren't dressed in a uniform, which was odd.
"Ah, this must be a ladies-only do?"
I asked Isabella. She just smiled condescendingly.
This was not Isabella's first such party so, she explained to me what was going on.
Turns out, our hostess held these parties on a regular basis for her friends and close acquaintances.
The sundry male guests were in attendance for the delight and delectation of the female guests.
There is a different theme each time. Today, the theme was 'Young Boys' - no younger than 18 and no older than 20. Past events included 'thirty-somethings', 'ethnics' - Latino / Mediterranean, black.
A buffet meal is laid on, as well as Ξ± well-stocked bar, manned by a couple of the male attendees.
The drill was: the male guests mingle and make sure the ladies are amply provisioned with food and drink, as well as providing any other diversion that the ladies request, but they were not to initiate any liaison with them. The women always made the first move.
There were a number of well-appointed bedrooms upstairs that were available to the guests to consummate their illicit trysts, if they so desired. The number of women rarely exceeded the limited bedroom accommodation. I counted ten at some point in time.
Or else, if their marital and domestic circumstances allowed, they'd drive their partner of choice home and have him shag her in her own bed.'
"So, now you know the drill, good luck and good hunting!"
Isabella enthused.
"You can thank me later,"
she said, and with that, Isabella made a beeline for a tall, blond, broad-shouldered boy who was serving behind the bar.
There was a short exchange between them, then they headed off to the staircase leading up to the upper storeys of the house, and as she sauntered off, arm - in - arm with the teen stud-muffin, she turned and waved to me with a sly wink,
So, there I was, feeling like the proverbial bacon sandwich!
Boys carrying trays of filled wineglasses circulated continuously, offering a selection of wines - red, still white, brut, and rose.
I was on my second glass of Chardonnay, when I spotted this thin, lanky lad who was hovering by the buffet table and looking as lost and dejected as I was feeling.
Mm, I thought, a kindred spirit! Perhaps, an introduction could be mutually beneficial?
So, he was young enough to be my son, but what did I have to lose?
I didn't see very many options at that point. So, I plucked up the courage to go over and say, 'hi!'
He looked startled when I walked up to him and introduced myself.
"Hi, I'm Dorothy",
I greeted him, with the warmest smile I could muster.
"I'm Malcolm"
, he stuttered, and reached for my outstretched hand. He shook it firmly and vigorously.'
His hand was soft and warm. That was my first positive impression of the timid youth.
The poor thing! It turns out, it was his first time at this event, and he almost trembled in trepidation.
"This your first time?"
I ask him. He shook his head as he exhaled, "
Yes".
"Mine, too,"
I reassured him, which made him smile. He had a nice smile.
Hm, the second positive impression, I mused.
Also, I couldn't help but notice his beautiful, deep blue eyes, behind his rimless glasses.
Positive impression number three!
That was a hat-trick so far as the first impressions were concerned, which got me wondering, what other features on him would impress me?
I explained to him that I happened to be there, quite by chance and that a friend had brought me along, without any explanation about where she was taking me.
He said he was in a similar predicament. In his case, his friend told him it was a posh party and there'd be loads of guests of the opposite sex but omitted to mention that the guests would be older than his mum.'
He blushed and apologised for the age-ist remark. I didn't react to his oblique inference to my mature years.
"So, you, see? We're both in the same boat!",
I said, in an attempt to deflect his inadvertent slight.
He was a very sweet boy and obviously a lot younger than my youngest boy, Eric.
I had begun to warm to him, in spite of his tender years - or maybe because of it?
I don't know, but I think what clinched it was when I glanced around the room, to see the other women deep in conversation with some of the boys and even a few couples strolling out of the room, hand-in-hand, with obvious intent.'