The young preacher's words burned in my ears: "How can this be? This has to be a set-up, a cruel joke! I do not accept this, this cannot be happening, dear Lord ... Not again." Crashed through my mind.
As my face drained of blood I felt myself go pail and I thought that I may faint, pass out, fall from my chair, but I grabbed the side edge of the table and all that I could manage to get out was: "What?"
I looked over at Richard expecting him to burst out laughing, say: "April fool!" Anything.
But he was enthralled in the young man's words and impressed by his virile youth and stature and I knew from previous unacceptable discussions that Richard attempted to have with me that this young man fit his profile all too well. More of the type he really wanted to have join us while he fucked me.
Richard's voice rang in my ears: "Well all right!" and he turned to look at me.
"Ann, you don't look so good, we need to order, you need to get something in your stomach." He told me.
My first thought was to get up and walk out, but they kind of had me pinned in and I heard myself say: "This isn't happening, I'm not falling for this."
Richard looked right through me in a way I had never seen before in all of our years of marriage and though his expression was angered he quietly and calmly said: "Like with Jim, this young man's dad, this is your idea. You initiated the arrangement, you made the deal and you would have reaped your benefit had I lost this wager, your wager, your terms and you know me and you know I would have paid up. Time to put your pussy where your mouth is. Waitress three menus please."
I couldn't move, I just sat there and I must have had a look of total stupefaction on my face because our young guest, the very one that I insisted join us looked me in the eye and said: "Don't worry Ann, I work with a lot of couples over sexual issues in their marriages. Let's just have a good meal and we'll go to your room and talk after. Let's not share your issues with the locals."
My immediate response to his words was that he was arrogant, cocky and self serving, but somehow I took peace in the fact that though he didn't come right out and say it, there was a lingering tone that I might be able to talk my way out of the hideous wager. The one that I so insisted on trying to cheat the outcome to be in my favor over.
I barely remembered eating my meal and I said very little as my husband and Jim's son made small talk. I was far too busy preparing a defense in my own head to listen to them. I needed a path of retreat and that's when it hit me! "Religion. I'll use sin as my defense! Lust and the Ten Commandments, that'll work." I reasoned in my head.
"Listen, by the way, my name is also Jim, country people in the farmlands where my folks came from were big on naming boy's after their fathers." He said. The he added: "Give me your room number. I want to get a few things out of my truck and it's best if I meet you there rather than us walking to your room together."
My husband handed him the spare key card and said: "One twelve. Just let yourself in."
Other than expressing how disappointed he was in me for trying to back out of my deal, Richard and I spoke very little on the walk over, but he made sure to reiterate that if he had lost, he would have honored his end of our wager. Then he said: "Quit pouting and make the best of it. You brought this deal to me ... Get over yourself."
Two steps later we were in the room and he was closing the blinds and pulling the heavy curtains over the front windows, then he instructed: "Turn all the lights on."
When I got to the second nightstand lamp, the door opened and in walked Jim Jr. with a satchel and a bottle of bourbon under his arm. He said: I've set aside the rest of today and tonight and I don't need to be back at church until around or after noon tomorrow so I arraigned for plenty of time. Let's have a drink, relax and then we'll talk a little."
In hearing that, my inner trembling and fret kind of subsided but I was still very anxious to put closure on both men's sexual expectations of me.
He pulled the corner chair between the foot of the bed and the desk and positioned the smaller desk chair directly in front of it about five feet away. Turning them to face each other he said: "Richard, have a seat and I'll take the desk chair and Ann, please sit yourself in between us on the foot of the bed."
As we complied he poured us a drink and said: "Good, now Ann, before dinner you looked like you were going to pass out. Tell me what's bothering you."
And I confidently unloaded everything, it just came pouring out me. I detailed how long we had been married, how Richard had become dissatisfied and selfish in our sex life for the past several months, how he wanted to use adult toys, how he has insists on me tasting myself, his latest obsession with my anus and his constant badgering and pressuring of me to take an additional lover for him to share me with. I even told him about last night's experiences with Jim, I didn't hold back, I told him everything.
Then to add my form of validity to Richard's recent bizarre actions, I said: "I am pushing sixty, as you can see I'm no fashion model and I am uncomfortable with my body. Perhaps if I was more fit and toned ..."
He interrupted: "Ann, what about this wager?" He questioned.
I answered: "I got to where I couldn't take the constant pressuring anymore, especially when I'm his captive audience on these long road trips back and forth between our properties. So yes, I made the wager. I didn't think anyone that I chose would agree to go through with it," Then in my defense I asked: "Why? What was I supposed to do?"
