Author: Thinking Horndog
Title: Second Best
Part: 074
Universe: Second Best
Summary: A full-length novel that follows several young couples and their
families through the period immediately preceding their Senior Prom.
Keywords: nosex

Keywords for full story:  F-solo, Ff-inc, M+F Ffm MF mf oral anal bd D/s Mg-
inc Fm-inc mm mmf rom MF-reluc

Chapter 74
Other closings

      It was after 10:00 p.m. when Mandi and Rick finally surrendered the
telephone.  They'd been at it since Rick called at about 8:00, while Mandi
was still laughing from the razzing that she and her mother had heaped on
Denise over Eddie.  Relating the sexual escapades of others only intensified
their craving for each other's company.  Finally, Rick made Mandi promise
that they would spend several hours together AT LEAST on Tuesday, totally
forgetting that the evening apart had been his idea.

      No sooner had the phone settled in the cradle than it began to ring.
Mandi recovered it.  "Giannelli residence..."

      "Jeezus!" erupted a deep voice from the earpiece, "I been tryin' to
get through for two solid hours!  WhatintheHell's goin' on over there?"

      Mandi and Denise both stifled chuckles.  "Momma! It's for you!"

      Helen, already in bed, picked up the bedside extension.  "Hello?"

      "You're sure a hard woman to get ahold of!  I been at it for two solid
hours!"

      Helen snickered, "I have two teenage daughters, and one telephone
line.  Only recently has this become an issue..."

      "Well, it is now!  How in the Hell does a man get a date with you,
anyway?"  Big Al was still ranting.

      "He asks - politely," was the cool response.

      "Oh."  Al got the hint, and simmered down, "Look, I, uh, I want to
bring you over to my place tomorrow night. I'll knock something out for
dinner - won't be good, but you'll survive it - and..."

      Helen smiled.  "You sound about twelve years old.  Am I staying the
night?"

      "I, uh, - Yes.  That is, if you want..."

      Helen smiled into the receiver.  "I'm working until 5:00, and I start
at 9:00 on Wednesday.  Do you want to pick me up at McGinty's?"

      "Yeah!  Sure!"  Al pumped his fist, and mouthed 'Yes!'

      "Okay.  Anything else?" Helen asked.  By now she was pretty sure Al
wasn't prone to long, romantic telephone conversations.

      Al looked over at Bobby, who was leaning against the door jam,
grinning, turned his back to him and murmured, "Love ya, Baby," into the
phone.

      Helen freaked.  "You WHAT?! Al, you didn't have to say that..."

      "I didn't?"  Al stuck his foot in it in the classic male manner.
'Huh?' would have been a better answer, but he was still processing the
surprising content of her answer, so the repeater came on.

      "No, you didn't.  And you shouldn't - not just because you think I
want to hear it!  That's just wrong!  It's lying!  It cheapens things and
assumes I'm stupid and can be duped!  If you think..."  Helen was busy
working up a full head of steam.

      Al took in the first couple of sentences of this tirade, got the gist,
and made the lightning calculation that to let her finish was to lose a
girlfriend.  "HEY!!!  SHADDUP!!"  Into the resulting near silence (he
detected a sniffle) he continued, "I SAID it because I MEANT it.  I was a
little furtive 'cause Bobby's standin' here critiquing my end of the call
and the little bastard embarrassed me, but I meant what I said!"

      "Yeah, sure.  We've known each other - what - a week?" Another
sniffle.

      "Been a helluva week.  Think about it.  What d'ya think, I'm made of
stone?" Al demanded.

      "Nooo."  Doubt had crept in.

      "How long do ya figure it takes to fall in love with the perfect woman
- months?"

      "P-p-p-p..." Helen couldn't get it out.  "Perfect wo-?"

      "For me, yes!" Pause. "You all better now?"

      "Uh huh..." Shocky was more like it.  Helen was having trouble holding
up the phone.

      "Good.  I'll pick you up tomorrow night.  Love ya, Baby!"  Click.

      Helen continued to hold the phone to her ear for a moment while she
tried to recover her composure.  That's how she heard the peals of girlish
laughter before the downstairs extension finally cradled.  The girls had
been listening in!  Their arrival, moments later, was heralded by the
thunder of feet pounding up the staircase.

      The girls burst into the room, grinning.  Denise licked her finger and
pressed it to her ass cheek, making a hissing noise, "Momma's still got it!
I know smitten when I hear it - and Big Al's been poleaxed!"

      "What?  You think he's serious?" Helen burst out.

      "Deadly," Mandi replied.  "Mark my words: In six weeks or less, you
two will be trying to figure out how to get all of us under one roof!  When
you do, don't worry about me - I'm spoken for!"

      Helen grimaced at the first remark, but the second was the one she
addressed.  "Like that, huh?"

      "Yeah."  Mandi was sober.  "A day without Rick is a lot worse than a
day without sunshine.  And he just spent two hours telling me that he feels
the same way."

      "Is there going to be a wedding soon?"

      Mandi shrugged.  "I won't press him - I told him early on that I was
his without it.  But I think so.  I'm ready to move in with him now!"

      "Do you think that's smart, Dear?  I like Rick, but..."  Helen tried
to inject some skepticism in her daughter.

      "It's too late to close the barn door, Momma.  The horse - my heart -
is already gone!  If Rick breaks it, well, it's his to break.  But I don't
see that happening in the near term, and no one can predict the future."

      "You two aren't ready to go out on your own - And Rick doesn't have
his own place, anyway!"  Helen cautioned.

      "True, but things are pretty free and easy at the Nellis' these days.
And I'm not the only piece of female chattel there - or even the most
abused!" Mandi replied.

      "Huh?" said Denise.

      Mandi grinned. "Next time you go to see Dina, check out her mom!
You'll be able to see all, since all she's allowed to wear at home is a
slave collar!"

      "Holy shit!  When did THAT happen?"  Denise was vocal, but both of the
women were incredulous.

      "Yesterday morning.  I was there at the table when Rick's momma
announced that she was no longer a free woman - buck naked, kneeling at his
dad's feet!  Very sexy!"

      "Wow! I gotta talk to Dina!  I gotta see this!"  Denise was beside
herself with excitement.

      "I don't understand, Dear.  Why would she do that?  Does Mr. Nellis
have some hold on her?"

      "It's complicated, Momma, but they discovered recently that she's
actually happier this way.  She was coping, but wasn't happy with the way
things were - and she was really hung up.  Quite by accident, they
discovered that things went better - in bed and out - when she had no
control over them.  Momma, she begged him - and he was reluctant, despite
the fact that he's very good at being a master!"

      "Hmmph," Helen replied, "Not for me.  Does he beat her?"

      "Ummm, yes, I'm pretty sure he does.  But I also know that he doesn't
get off on it.  It's just that he periodically has to reinforce his
dominance.  Mostly, he uses mind games - humiliation and such.  Like the
nudity at home."

      "That shouldn't be too bad - I could handle that!" Denise announced.

      "When guests arrive?" was the smiling rejoinder.  "You want to stand
around naked while the plumber fixes the sink?"

      "Oh!"

      "Like I said, not for me!"  Helen announced.

      Mandi grinned.  "Momma, may I remind you that you have been
spectacularly, publicly naked in front of most of my friends THIS WEEK!  And
the way you wear that house coat..."

      "Okay, okay!  Judge not...  What EXACTLY does this have to do with you
and Rick?"

      "Simply that I could move into Rick's room with him and no one would
turn a hair.  Merry and I get along fine - we're sisters in bondage!  Rick's
dad can afford it, and I don't see him complaining as long as I don't act
like a houseguest..."

      "Which you wouldn't." Helen put in.

      "I'm certain that Rick's college plans are achievable - he's smart! -
and I'll go, too.  We talked about it.  No kids until after. So it's just
me..."

      "And that's a help, not a burden," Helen asserted, "Your sister, on
the other hand, would be likely to find her hands full!"

      "Good God!  Bobby McCormick, all the time!"  Denise roared, laughing.

      Helen laughed, "Well, it's YOUR scenario.  It hasn't happened yet..."

      "Would it be so bad?" Denise asked, smiling.

      "Mmmm.   Not for me..." Helen's expression became momentarily dreamy,
"But we've both been around the block.  He'll wake up - and I'm not going to
dream my way to a fall.  You two get out of here so I can sleep.  I've got
day shift tomorrow."


      On the other end of the phone line, Bobby shot his father an
appraising glance as he hung up.  "Laying it on a little thick, Dad? Helen's
a helluva woman, but..."

      "But what?" Big Al frowned.

      "Tellin' her you love her?  You've known her - what - a week?"  Bobby
was skeptical.

      "All I know is that I haven't been this happy since some time before
your mother died.  Helen makes me happy just being in the room with her.
When she's holding down the other side of the bed, well..."

      "Well, take it easy.  You've both been out of circulation for a while.
Helen's sweet, but you two could learn to hate each other, quick!"  Bobby
warned.

      "I'll think about it.  YOU think about THIS:  I'm gonna start
agitating for her to move in.  Can you handle that?" Al fixed Bobby with a
basilisk stare.

      Bobby held his ground.  "Because Helen gave me Sex 101?  No problem.
I've got Dina, anyway.  What about you?  I have no plans to poach, but Dina
told me to hold my options open..."

      "That girl's a real wild hair.  You're gonna have your hands full.
You ever think she said that because she wants a piece of ME?"  Big Al
laughed.

      Bobby didn't turn a hair. "Absolutely.  I know how her mind works.
She got a look at you the other day, and I could smell the neurons firing.
Things could get real interesting around here..."

      Al sobered rapidly.  "You're shitting me, right?"  Bobby's look said
'No'.  "Okay, how's this?  No active poaching?"

      "No problem.  But I gotta tell you, if Dina's made up her mind, you
might as well whip it out and hand it to her, 'cause you'll find yourself
boxed anyway, in short order!  You ever seen her at work?"

      "No, but it can't be THAT bad..."

      Bobby smiled like a shark.  "Remind me to give you the details of our
current scam...  Let me give you a quick example:  Dina discovered her
mother wasn't doing her wifely duty by her old man a week ago Sunday.
Today, Dina's mom is her dad's sex slave!"

      "Bullshit!"  Big Al was aghast.

      "Dad, I was THERE, yesterday, when she knelt down, buck naked, and
offered herself!"  Bobby declared.

      "Sheeit!"  Al whistled.  "Okay, I'm duly warned.  Back to Helen.  I
plan to do my best to see to it that she's a permanent occupant in my bed.
Marriage is a distinct possibility.  Can you hang?"

      "Yeah, Dad, no problem.  If she makes you happy, I certainly have no
objection."

      "Great.  Let's hit the sack.  I'm bushed."