Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The party had been on a Saturday; Karen and Allison had lunch the following
Thursday.  The two women met at a small outdoor café roughly a block from
campus, ordered tea, sandwiches, and salads, and settled in for a bit of a
talk.

   Karen asked Allison if she enjoyed the party, and Allison said she had.
The two women made more small talk, mostly discussing the men who had
attended.  Karen said that there were usually more people present, but
summertime parties usually have an attendance drop.  The weather is nice
and people are off and about doing things.

   The two women, one aged twenty-one and the other thirty-one, giggled and
made general girl talk.  They finished their lunch and headed over to a
Starbucks for a cup of coffee.  They grabbed their coffee and moved to a
small park near the campus, where they sat in the shade and began to talk.
The conversation turned toward Richard.

   "He liked you, Allison," said Karen, in a very matter-of-fact tone. 
"And he is quite skilled."

   "I know he liked me.  But why didn't he just come out and ask me for a
date or something?"

   "He doesn't work that way, sis," said Karen.  She had begun to take on
the demeanor of a teacher.  "Richard, and by the way, never, ever call him
Dick, is strictly about exploring the a girl's dark side and the pure
pleasure from the experience.  He loves his girl's a bit, but marriage and
a permanent settling with the girl is out of the question."

   "How long has he been doing this?" asked Allison.

   "I really don't know," answered Karen.  "I have been in the club around
nine years, and he was in the club then.  I think he was one of the
original founders.  He always has two or three women he controls, and they
always speak very, very highly of him.  He respects a girl's limits, and
never goes past them.  When the girl decides it is time to move on, he is
very gracious in cutting her loose.  I can get you recommendations about
him if you are interested.  He asked me for your cell number but I told him
I would wait until I checked with you first."

   "Well," said Allison, after a long sip on her latte, "could I get in
touch with some of the girls?  Just to find out what he is like?"

   Karen blushed and bit her lip.  "Sis, you are talking to one."

   "Oh my God!  But what about Frank?"

   "It was before I met Frank.  And, sis, let me tell you something.  I
learned more about sexuality with Richard than with everyone.  I had my
first orgasms with Richard.  He made me squeal with pleasure!  He had me
crawling the walls!  I would go insane.  The pleasure with him was divine!

   "What did you two do together?" asked a laughing Allison.  Allison was
very sexual, and had experienced multiples.  But she had never climaxed
with Tony.  "Did you and Richard have sex?"

   "Oh yaaaaaa!" said Karen.  "Sometimes I get wet just thinking of the
stuff Richard and I did.  But, some people do BDSM without sex.  They just
enjoy the punishment.  Anyhow, Richard and I played for two years.  Then we
sort of broke it off and would play occasionally.  When I met Frank, and we
got serious, Richard quietly backed out.  I think Frank suspected that I
played, but he knows that I never cheated on him."

   "Do you and Frank do any BDSM stuff?" asked Allison, turning a bright
red.

   "Yes, but it is different from what Richard and I did.  Of course, Frank
is a different man.  And, well, Frank was willing to give me what Richard
couldn't.  I mean marriage, children, and the permanence of a loving
relationship."

   "Richard can't give that?"

   "Well, I guess he could," said Karen, looking introspectively at the
ground.  "He just doesn't want it.  He just wants to play with young girls.
And he always seems to find plenty."

   Both women got quiet for a bit.  Almost as if they were of one mind,
they stood up and began a slow walk back to Allison's apartment.  Allison
gently grasped Karen's hand and spoke softly.

   "Karen, Sis," she said, her tone pitched low and very serious, "give
Richard my cell number.  Please?  Okay?"

   "Sure thing," responded Karen.

   The two women walked on in silence to Karen's car.  They hugged and gave
each other gentle kisses on the cheek.

   "Don't be a stranger, hun," said Karen.  "Keep in touch and let me know
how things are going with you and Richard.  Okay?"

   "I will.  I will"

   The two women parted.  Karen went home and Allison went to the library
to do some reading.  She figured that Richard would call in the evening or
over the weekend.  She was not going to sit and wait by the phone.  But she
was very, very, very curious.