I went over to Woodbine and talked to my old boss and he gave me a job. I had to go through the hiring process again and that meant filling out all the applications and other assorted paperwork. I didn’t know if it would be caught in the office, but I thought it might be worth a try so when I got to the block where it asked for the social security number I put in the number of my Grandfather on my father’s side of the family. He had been dead for three years and since I had been named after him and had the same name and he had been single when he died and no one had put in for survivor’s benefits I was hoping that the Social Security Administration wouldn’t notice.
As long as Elaine and her lawyer didn’t know where I worked (and I would do my level best to see that they never found out) he only way they could find me to garnish my wages would be through my social security number which would show that I wasn’t working or if I was it was under the table somewhere for cash. If they couldn’t find me, they couldn’t get anything out of me.
I had money. When the divorce paperwork and the restraining order were served I had cleaned out all of my accounts against the possibility that Elaine’s lawyer might be able to freeze the accounts or somehow seize them. I didn’t believe in credit cards so I dealt strictly in cash. When I got paid I cashed my check and put the money in ‘my bank’ which was a lockbox bolted to the floor under the rear seat of my crew cab pickup and when it built up to a good sized amount I bought a certificate of deposit and gave it to my brother who put it in his safe deposit box.
I stayed with Leslie for almost three weeks while I looked for an apartment. The rather abrupt way I left my last apartment had people leery of renting to me, but I finally found a place where I was able to convince them that they had nothing to worry about. My previous landlord had not been hurt in the deal because the move in deal had been first and last months rent and a security deposit so he got the last months rent and the security deposit as forfeits when I went to jail. I signed a six months lease and paid for the entire six months up front and then I started moving in.
The three weeks I lived with Leslie got me to thinking that maybe I should give a more permanent arrangement a shot. I like her a lot, we got along great, she was a good cook and was dynamite in bed. When I broached the subject she quickly set me straight.
“I don’t want a permanent arrangement sweetie. I’m perfectly happy with the way things are right now. I like you Rob; I like you a lot, but I’m just not ready to settle down. What we have going for us right now suits me just fine. Come on sweetie; let’s take it to the bedroom so I can show you just how much I do like you.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things cranked along smoothly for three months and then one Tuesday night at Riley’s when I said “Your place or mine tonight” Leslie said:
“Neither sweetie. I went to my cousin’s wedding last Saturday and I met a guy. Sparks kind of flew and I think he might just be the one. Can we still be friends and will you still dance with me on the nights we are in here together?”
I assured her that we would always be friends and as she left Riley’s that night to go home I looked around to see if there was someone who could take Leslie’s place. My eyes settled on Karen the busty barmaid. The book on Karen was that she had been a stripper until a car accident had done something to her that kept her from being able dance they way she needed to dance to make good money at it. She moved from stripping to serving drinks at the strip club until she got tired of being groped by drunken assholes and then she came to work at Riley’s behind the bar instead of in front of it. There was also a rumor that she used to ‘play for pay’, but no one could ever confirm the rumor.
Karen was a walking, talking, living wet dream. About five four and maybe one hundred and twenty pounds with 38D breasts and long red hair down to the middle of her back. I’d never seen her have anything to do with anyone from the bar, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be a first time. I was personally of the opinion that the rumors and the outright sexiness of the lady kept the guys from trying. They figured that they had no chance at something that hot so they didn’t try for fear of being shot down and then being made fun of by the other guys.
I started spending my time sitting at the bar instead of at the table with the other guys. After a couple of nights Karen brought up the subject. As she set a beer down in front of me she said:
“You do something to piss off the guys at the table? They won’t let you sit with them anymore?”
“I could sit there if I wanted, but I got tired of straining my eyes.”
“Straining your eyes? I don’t understand.”
“It is hard to see you from over there. I decided that if I was going to look at you I might as well do it up close.”
“Aren’t you the silver tongued Devil.”
“What can I say? You are by far the best looking woman in the building.”
Before she could say anything to that a guy at the other end of the bar called for a refill on his beer and she went to take care of him. It was busy and she never got a chance to do more than bring me another beer, but I did notice that she kept glancing over at me.
The next two nights were Karen’s days off so on those nights I sat at the table with the rest of the guys and the girls who usually joined us. I danced with several and got what I thought was an invitation from one of them but passed on it. If I was going to get anywhere with Karen I didn’t need her thinking that I was just another guy wanting to soak his dick in a hot, wet place. When I danced with Leslie she asked me if I knew what I was doing.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh come on Rob. I know you. You are eyeing Karen and I wonder if you know what you are doing.”
“It sounds like you are trying to warn me about something.”
“You do know that she is a part time hooker, don’t you?”
“No I don’t. I’ve never seen her take any money or even leave here with one of the guys.”
“Well she is Rob. One of the guys in the front office at work said that she was the best piece of ass that he’d ever had and the only thing bad about the experience was that he had to pay for it.”
“That could just be some asshole trying to make himself look like a stud by lying.”
“He had never bragged before and if he has since I’ve not heard it.”
“Well I don’t believe it. If it was true she would leave here with guys from time to time and I’ve never seen that happen.”
“You don’t need her Rob. You can have your pick of any girl at our table. They are all interested in you.”
“Do you remember how we got together? Why you picked me in the first place? And now you are trying to point me at the same women?”
“Not all of them are like that. Betsy isn’t like that and neither are Carol or Robin. And I’ve not heard anything bad about Tina. If your thing is redheads go for Tina, but avoid Karen.”
“I sense that you don’t like the lady.”
“I don’t know her well enough to either like or dislike her, but I am pretty sure that she is a slut and I don’t think you should get involved with her.”
“A rumor does not make her a slut Leslie.”
“Maybe not, but I know that she is fucking Joe (the owner of Riley’s) during the day before her shift and maybe after for all I know.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I was in here one afternoon. She starts work at four, but at three-forty she came out of Joe’s office and she had that ‘just fucked’ look about her A couple of minutes later Joe came out and he had a satisfied look on his face and he was pulling up his zipper.”
“That’s hardly proof that they were having sex.”
“Trust me on this one Rob. You don’t need to get involved with her.”
“You can save me from her.”
No I can’t. Rory wouldn’t understand.”
“The boy has no sense of humor?”
“Not where that would be concerned.”
I have to admit that I did wonder if Leslie was right, but then I thought of that sexy redhead and put Leslie’s concerns out of my mind.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next night Karen was back to work and I was back sitting at the end of the bar where I could watch her. She came up to me and asked me what I’d like.
“I would like a Pabst Blur Ribbon and for you to have coffee with me when you get off work tonight.”
“I already have plans for tonight.”
“Tomorrow night then.”
“I have something going tomorrow night too.”
“I’m free Wednesday.”
“Wednesday is my night off.”
“Give me your address and I’ll pick you up around seven and take you out to dinner.”
“No Rob, I don’t think so.”
“Okay then, how about Thursday night?”
“Give it up Rob. I don’t date guys who come in here. It just doesn’t pay to have a relationship of any kind with people from the work place. I know. Been there and done that.”
“No problem. I’ll stop coming in here.”
“No Rob, no, no, no! Got it?”
“No. Something worth having is something worth keeping after.”
“Suit yourself Rob, but understand that you are wasting your time.”
I just smiled at her. I mean what else did I have to do with my time?
I kept sitting at the bar on the nights she was there and after a couple of weeks we had it down pat.
“What will you have?”
“Pabst Blue Ribbon and a date with you.”
“One PBR coming up, but no to the other.”
“You are supposed to be nice to the customers.”
“You are not a customer Rob; you are a pain in the ass.”
That went on for a month and might have gone on for only God knows how long if my cousin Dave hadn’t proposed to Emily Garner. She said yes and my cousin Tom arranged a bachelor’s party. It was on a Thursday night and it was being held at Tom’s house. His wife Debbie had graciously agreed to spend the night at her mother’s.
Tom had prepped us all ahead of time (all of us except Dave) so we would know what was going to happen. I was in the bathroom when the stripper arrived and I was stunned to see that it was Karen. Not knowing how she would react to seeing me and not wanting to spoil Dave’s party I waited until Karen had her back to me and then I slipped out of the house onto the patio and found a good spot where I could look in the window.
The music was faint when it started, but I could still hear it. Karen strutted over to the chair where Dave was sitting, bent over and whispered something in his ear and then moved back to the center of the room and then she did the kind of professional strip that you would see at a strip club. Once naked she went over and gave Dave a lap dance that had every man in the room (and one guy on the patio) harder than the legs on Dave’s chair.
As I watched it all I remembered what Leslie had said to me and it certainly looked like she knew what she was talking about. Tom had collected fifty bucks from each of us to pay the stripper and with twelve of us kicking in it came to six hundred dollars. Mike asked why so much and Tom told us that it covered the strip, lap dance and then after the lap dance the girl would give Dave the full treatment. Sam asked what the hell was the full treatment.
“One time each in mouth, pussy and ass. She gets seventy-five for a blow job, one hundred for her pussy and one hundred and fifty for her ass. When she is done with Dave she will do anyone else who wants to pay the price.”
Through the window I saw Dave’s pants down around his ankles and his cock pointing up at the ceiling as Karen got off of him following the lap dance. Karen swung around and faced the room and then lowered herself onto Dave’s cock and rode him reverse cowgirl until Dave came. While she was riding Dave Tom walked up to her and offered his cock to her mouth and she opened her mouth and accepted the piece of meat and went to work on it.
Dave came and Karen moved off of his lap and knelt down in front of him and went after his cock with her mouth. While she was sucking him to get him hard again Tom moved behind her and pushed his cock into her pussy. He sawed in and out for several minutes until Karen had Dave hard again and then she got up, went to her purse and got what I assumed was KY and then went back to Dave. She said something to him, handed him the lube and then got down on her hands and knees. Dave moved in behind her and while he lubed up his cock and worked on Karen’s butt hole Harry moved in front of her and pointed his cock at her mouth and she took it.
She was facing away from me so I moved back into the house, grabbed a chair, moved it to a dark corner and settled in to watch. For the next two hours I watched as Karen satisfied every man in that room but me. Did I want to join in? Yes I did, but I didn’t and I can’t even give a clear reason as to why I didn’t.
Seeing Karen naked was a turn on. Watching Karen suck cock was a turn on. Seeing Karen taking cocks in her pussy was a turn on and hearing her squeal as her ass was reamed was a turn on. That sexy body with one, two or three men in it was a turn on. Yes, three! She took Dave in her ass, Phil in her pussy and sucked Marv’s cock all at the same time and my cock was so hard from watching that I could have pounded nails through an oak plank with it, but I just could not bring myself to join in. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t. It just wouldn’t seem right.
When it was over and there were no more hard cocks in sight Karen shakily got to her feet and looked around the room at all of the smiling and satisfied men and that is when she saw me sitting in the corner. She walked over to me and said:
“Well, now you know. I suppose you expect me to do you for free so you will keep quit about this” and she went to her knees in front of me and reached for my zipper. I pushed her hand away and shook my head no.
“No? You mean you won’t keep quit about this?”
“No. What I mean is that I won’t do it because it would be blackmail and I won’t do that.”
“So you are going to tell.”
“No I am not. It may come as a shock to you, but I like you. I like you too much to do that to you.”
“Why didn’t you join in? You too good to have anything to do with a whore?”
“You will never know how hard it was for me to not be a part of it.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I’m still going to be stopping at Riley’s and it would be too awkward to see you every day knowing that I had been part of a gangbang where you were the bangie.”
“That makes no sense. You saw it happen so you will still remember it every time you come into the bar and see me.”
“I can’t explain it Karen; I just know that it will make a difference.”
“You have been after me for months to go out with you and I know what you were hoping for if I would have said yes. You wanted to get into my pants. And here we are and you are saying no?”
I shrugged, got up and wished Dave the best. I thanked Tom for putting on the party and then I left.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I didn’t stop at Riley’s on Friday night because I’d already committed myself to helping Tom decorate the hall where we were going to hold Dave’s wedding reception. Saturday was the wedding and reception and the bar was closed on Sunday so it was Monday before I was back to Riley’s. I took a seat with the guys at the table and didn’t pay any attention to Karen even though I noticed her watching me.
After an hour or so and a couple of dances with the regular girls I moved over to the end of the bar and sat down. Karen opened the cooler and took out a PBR and brought it over and without a word she sat it down in front of me and then walked down to the other end of the bar and talked to the two guys sitting there. When my beer was empty I waited for her to look my way and then I waved the empty at her. She brought me another and when she sat it down in front of me she asked:
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“After Thursday night you don’t come in Friday or Saturday and when you came in tonight you went over to the tables and sat down. Now here you are at the end of the bar so the question I had for you is what are you doing?”
“Trying to find a balance.”
“A balance?”
“Yes, a balance. I wasn’t here Friday or Saturday because of Dave’s wedding and reception and all the things we had to do to get ready for them. I sat down at the table when I first got here tonight because coming right to the bar would have seemed too much like an ‘in your face’ thing, but by the same token staying at the table would have seemed like condemning what I saw on Thursday. I didn’t want either of those to happen so I’m trying to find a balance between the two.”
“I still don’t understand. Why do you need a balance?”
“Because I’m going to be coming in here and I’m still hot for you so I need to be able to come in here, sit at the bar and look at you.”
“That makes no sense at all. You say you are hot for me, but you had a chance and you walked away from it.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
She looked at me and shook her head in disbelief so I went on and explained my thinking to her.
“If you had seen me when you first got to Tom’s house what would you have done? I’m betting that all that would have happened was that Dave would have gotten a luke warm strip and lap dance and then you would have split. No way you would have done that gangbang if you had seen me first. I couldn’t ruin Dave’s party so I stayed out of sight. Did I want to join in? Hell yes I did, but I couldn’t because quite frankly I couldn’t afford you. The cheapest thing was head for seventy-five and all I had with me was forty dollars and I wasn’t about to come up to you and say, “Hi Karen. Will you take an IOU? Then when it was over you offered yourself to me to buy my silence. If I would have said okay you would have had nothing but contempt for me. I wanted you so bad it hurt, but I had to say no if I wanted to be able to come in here, see you, and not have to turn my face away in embarrassment. I need to be able to come in here, look at you and smile and maybe have you smile back at me occasionally.”
She shook her head again and said, “You are some weird dude” and then she left to attend to other customers. As I watched her walk away I muttered to myself “I am that Karen, I am that.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After that Monday when I would come in I would spend some time at the tables and dance with the women that joined us and then I would spend some time at the end of the bar watching Karen. It was always the same. I’d take a seat at the end of the bar; she would put a beer in front of me and then walk away. When she brought me a refill she would ask how I was doing or make some other general type comment and I would respond.
I didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing. I did like looking at Karen and in my mind I was constantly playing back the memory of what I saw on that Thursday night, but given that night there was no chance that anything was ever going to happen between Karen and me. So why did I sit at the end of that bar every night? Because I felt that I had to. I sat there every night before that Thursday and if I stopped sitting there after I saw what I saw on that Thursday it would be as if I was saying that what I saw disgusted me and I didn’t want to be around Karen anymore because she was a fucking whore. I just could not do that. I wouldn’t let myself run away and I wouldn’t do anything that would that would make Karen think that I was just another asshole. I know. It makes absolutely no sense that I should be doing it, but as Popeye the Sailor used to say:
“I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.”
Then one Tuesday night after I’d been sitting at the bar for about an hour Karen put a fresh PBR in front of me and then said:
“You don’t ask me to have coffee with you anymore.”
I didn’t have an answer for that and so all I could do was shrug. Karen gave me a look that fairly screamed “Asshole” and then said:
“I guess you think that you are too good for the likes of me, is that it?”
Before I could say anything she turned and went to the other end of the bar.
The next evening as I was dancing with Leslie she asked, “When are you going to give up on her? It is obvious that nothing is going on and there are two girls at our table who would love to hook up with you. I know for sure that Betsy would jump at a chance.”
“I can’t explain it sweetie, but I feel that there is a connection between Karen and me.”
“You feel a connection? Are you sure that you aren’t smoking any of those funny cigarettes?”
When I walked Leslie back to the table I did notice that Betsy was watching us.
Karen ignored me for the rest of the week and when her days off arrived I couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing. My mind called up the memory of Dave’s bachelor party and I wished that if that is what she was doing I could be there. The one thing that had really registered on me at Dave’s party was that either Karen was a superb actress or she really got into what she was doing and I would love to feel that passion first hand. I wanted it, but had no way to get it. By turning down her offer at the party I had put myself in the position of not being able to ask her out without Karen thinking I was trying to take advantage of the situation just to get some free pussy.
Karen was back to work and behind the bar when I came in on Friday. Our eyes met as I walked toward the tables that the first arrivals had pushed together and I saw the disgust on her face and I turned back and sat at the end of the bar. She brought me a beer and before she could walk away I said:
“Just what the fuck is wrong with you? Where do you get off spouting out that “Too good for me” shit and treating me like pond scum just because I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? What is going on between us now is your goddamned fault not mine. You were the one who came up to me at Dave’s party, went to your knees and reached for my zipper and said:
“I suppose you expect me to do you for free.”
“If you had just smiled at me and gone ahead everything would have been all right. I wanted you so bad that night that I could have possibly killed for you, but you threw cold water on me with that ‘free to keep quiet’ shit. No way I cold touch you after that and not have you thinking I was an asshole blackmailing you for sex. The only reason I sit here at the end of this fucking bar whenever I come in here is so you wouldn’t think that I thought I was too good to have anything to do with the likes of you. The reason I haven’t asked you out anymore is not because I think I’m too good for you. It is because of the way you talked to me at Dave’s party. I can’t ask you out now because I’m afraid that you would take it wrong. But I see that you have taken it wrong anyway so to hell with you Karen!”
I turned and walked to the tables and joined the rest of the group. I danced with a couple of the girls, but my mood was a little on the sour side so I left early and went home.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Months back, several weeks after I’d gotten out of jail, my cousin Tom had called me and said that Elaine was asking around to see if anyone knew where I was. I jokingly told him to tell her that he had heard that I’d moved down to Florida to stay with my grandmother at her place in Madeira Beach.
“That should keep her and her lawyer busy for a while.”
After thinking about it overnight I got to thinking that it was a damned good idea. I called Tom back and told him to put out the word that that was just what I had done. I called my brother and asked him to do the same and he said he would let it slip out in a few places where he knew it would get back to Elaine.
I called my grandmother and told her what I had done and asked her to cover for me. If anyone called just tell them I was not there right then, that I was working a construction job and would be gone for a few days. She was a little reluctant – she had always liked Elaine – but she said she would do as I asked. When I got home that night there was a message from my Grammy asking me to call her. I called and she said that a man had come to her house and had asked about me. She told him the cover story, but she thought that I should know that someone was looking for me. I thanked her and went to bed smiling and thinking “waste your time Elaine, waste your time.”
Monday when I got to Riley’s I didn’t even look toward the bar when I walked in. I went straight to the tables and sat down. As soon as my butt hit the seat Tina was there with a PBR. I took out my wallet and pulled out a five and went to hand it to her, but she waved it away.
“It has been taken care of.”
“By who?”
“It’s on Karen.”
I glanced at the bar and saw Karen watching so I lifted the beer in a ‘thank you’ salute and took a pull on the bottle. I danced twice with Becky, once with Alice and once with Mary and then I went over and took a seat at the end of the bar. Karen came up to me and said:
“I’m sorry. I’ve been a bitch and I’m sorry about that. But since lately you haven’t asked me to have coffee with you when I get off work I’ll ask you. Join me for coffee when I get off tonight?”
I met her at Denny’s and we made small talk for several minutes and then Karen said:
“Did you mean what you said the other day? That you wanted me so bad you would have killed for me?”
“I did.”
“How close is your place?”
I was caught flat-footed by that and I don’t know what my face looked like, but obviously Karen read it wrong. She got a nasty look on her face and said:
“I thought so. I wasn’t wrong after all.”
She started to get up and I reached across the table and grabbed her wrist.
“Damn it Karen! Will you cut me at least one inch of slack? You caught me off guard. This is not the way I expected it or wanted it to go. I wanted to take you out to dinner and then maybe go dancing or take in a show. I wanted more out of this than just a roll in the hay.”
She relaxed and settled back on her seat. She gave me an appraising look and then said:
“Why? Surely you don’t expect a relationship to develop. You’ve seen me Rob. I am what I am because that is what I want to do. I wasn’t forced into it and I don’t do it because I desperately need the money. I do it because I love doing it.”
“I guess I’m just an old fashioned kind of guy. I want the trappings of romance even if they are an illusion.”
“How do you see it happening?”
“A date on one of your nights off. Maybe Wednesday?”
“I can’t on Wednesday, but I don’t have any plans for Thursday.”
“Okay then, would you go out with me this coming Thursday?”
“Yes Rob, I would very much like to go out with you on Thursday.”
“What would be your preference after dinner, a movie or dancing?”
“I think I would rather dance than sit and watch a movie.”
“I’ll check around and we can finalize things tomorrow night. I’ll need a phone number and an address.”
“I’ll give you a phone number, but not my address. I don’t let anyone know where I live. I’ll meet you at the bar and we can go from there.”
I dreamed that night about what would happen on Thursday. My mind replayed again that night at Tom’s and the thought that I was going to possess that hot sexy body gave me a strong woodie that I had to get rid of before I could fall asleep.
The next day I made some calls and found out what clubs were good to go to and then I called Spagnola’s and made a reservation for two at seven. I was pumped when I got to Riley’s that evening after work. I walked in and then stopped dead in my tracks. Gloria, the girl who covered Karen on her nights off, was behind the bar. I caught Tina on her way to deliver drinks and asked her where Karen was.
“Karen doesn’t work here anymore.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Joe’s wife paid us a visit this afternoon.”
“Joe’s wife?”
“The woman hasn’t set foot in this place in the last two years, at least not that I know of, but she came in here today. She walked straight into Joe’s office and found Karen on her back on Joe’s desk with her skirt up around her waist and her panties hanging on her right ankle. I don’t guess I need to tell you what Joe was doing. Joe’s wife was less than pleased. Shortly thereafter Karen left with her last paycheck in her purse.”
I called Karen’s number eleven times over the next two days and got her answering machine each time. I left messages, but Karen never called me back.
To be continued.