Chapter 30

Denise woke up.

It was Sunday morning. She, Elaine and Susan had spent the whole of 
Saturday together, just simply enjoying each other's company.

Susan's bed was crowded with the three of them, and Denise 
wondered idly for a moment whether she should broach the subject of 
getting a bigger bed.

She twisted over and met the twinkling eyes of Susan. They both 
heard a soft snore from Elaine, and smiled at one another. Susan 
mouthed "Coffee?" at Denise, who nodded, so they carefully got out of 
bed, grabbed robes and went into the kitchen.

"Do you think we went a little over the top with Elaine last night?" 
asked Susan.

"Nah. Though it was fun, wasn't it?" answered Denise.

She thought back. They'd double-teamed Elaine, giving her no mercy, 
each delighting in pushing the diminutive blonde higher and higher, 
until eventually Elaine had screamed "Stop!" and curled into a foetal 
position. Then they'd both hugged her, feeling her come down 
gradually, body quaking, as they delighted in expressing their love for 
and joy in the pretty girl.

Once she'd recovered, Elaine had simply wanted to roll over and go to 
sleep, so Denise and Susan had let her, making a bedtime drink of hot 
chocolate and relaxing, feeling the love between them deepen, but 
though both were aware of Denise's words from the previous night, 
neither had spoken openly of them.

Now, in the wan Sunday morning light from the overcast sky outside, 
Susan brought it up.

"Denise, you recall what you said just before you went to sleep Friday 
night?"

Denise blushed. She hadn't been certain that Susan had heard her.

Susan laid a hand over the older redhead's. "It's okay, I understand. 
We'll have to see what can be done, won't we?"

Denise looked glum, despite her companion's upbeat mood.

"I don't think it'll be that easy. I really think I've burnt my bridges with 
those two. Friends, yes, but I think Stan's out of my reach now."

Denise couldn't help it. Unbidden, tears began to fall as she said that, 
and a lump filled her throat. She opened her mouth to add that she 
was happy with Susan and Elaine, but couldn't get a sound out.

Susan stood, came around the table and hugged the older woman. 
Denise simply let it happen, her mind elsewhere. Stan was nice, 
protective, and friendly to her. It was Anne who'd been distant, but 
even she was being friendlier now. Could it be possible? The concept of 
a 'troi', three people committed to one another, not just some fun for 
a night or two, was very new to her. She resolved to see if there was 
anything she could find out about such things.

In the meantime, life still had to be lived. She pulled away from 
Susan, wiped her eyes and said, "Are we going to go down to Iorio's 
for breakfast today?"

Susan resumed her seat. "I don't see why not. I quite fancy something 
nice this morning, and the walk will do us good - wake us up. We'll 
need to check with Elaine, of course."

"Of course!" said Denise.

"Besides," said Susan with a sly grin at her new lover, "A certain 
gentleman and his girlfriend might be there.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elaine, Denise and Susan walked down the hill and onto the High 
Street to Iorio's. The three of them walked in together and greeted 
Tony.

"What-a can I get you, ladies?" he asked.

Denise took charge, this time. "Three cappuccinos and, I guess, six 
butter croissants? Yes?" she asked, checking with the other two. 
Hearing no objection, she confirmed, "Yes, six of those please, Tony. 
We'll be at the back."

"My, who's got all assertive?" teased Elaine as they walked to their 
usual booth.

"I have!" laughed Denise. "Well, about breakfast, anyway!"

The three ladies sat, with Elaine and Susan next to one another, 
Denise opposite. They chatted about this and that for a while, then 
tucked into their croissants when Tony served them up with the 
coffees.

It wasn't long afterwards when Susan saw Stan and Anne coming 
towards them.

"Hey, you two! Come and sit with us!" she called.

"What makes you think we weren't going to gatecrash anyway!" 
laughed Anne.

"And look who we've found here!" said Stan, grabbing the only 
newspaper from the rack. "A fine group of young ladies - I expect we'll 
be reading about you in here soon!" The newspaper he'd picked up 
was well known as liking risqué tittle-tattle, the more salacious the 
better, especially if the people involved were in the public eye at all. 

Stan sat next to Denise, while Anne perched on the end of the bench 
next to Susan. Once again the friends settled down to talking about 
nothing much. Tony brought Anne and Stan's breakfast over, and the 
five friends enjoyed their Sunday morning.

Anne turned to Denise sitting diagonally opposite her and asked "Are 
you looking forward to the dancing tomorrow night, Denise?"

"Yes, very much - but I wonder if Tom will be there. It might be a bit 
awkward if that two-timing bastard's going too."

Stan assured her, "Tom would have to be a dick to go, surely?"

All there agreed with him, but Denise wasn't so sure. She said, "Yes, 
but he is a bit of a dick, isn't he?"

Denise was reassured by everyone there. Anne said, "Even if he is 
there, Denise, stick with us and we'll make sure there aren't any 
problems. Okay? Besides, I'm getting excited just sitting here and 
thinking about doing that dance."

Denise nodded, but Anne could tell she wasn't happy. Susan changed 
the subject to Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld movies, "Don't you 
think she's hot?" she asked.

"Well, she's not really my type!" laughed Anne, but she added "Mind 
you, she does look very sexy in that outfit!"

Susan filed the information away. It might be useful in the future.

- - - - - - - - - -

Monday morning found Elizabeth in a good mood. James had come 
round again, she told Stan, "Just to do a bit of gardening, and to fix up 
a shelf of mine, you know."

"And to have a nice meal, and perhaps a little wine?" he asked, with 
knowingly raised eyebrows.

"Well, it seemed only fair to cook him a meal, after all!" replied 
Elizabeth.

Stan smiled. It seemed that Elizabeth and James were seeing a lot of 
each other lately. He knew that Elizabeth had, herself, been lonely. 
She'd told him once or twice, long ago, how empty the house felt now 
the children had grown up. Stan hoped that James would be capable of 
filling that emptiness for his friend.

Later that morning Denise tracked Elizabeth down in the 
manufacturing test area. She asked if she'd have lunch with her, as 
usual. "Of course, Denise, silly!" came the reply, so at lunch the two 
ladies met. It was raining, so they found a table indoors by the wall 
where they could talk in relative privacy.

"Elizabeth, I wanted to talk over some stuff I'm going through at the 
moment," she said, after the weekend's chatter had been gone over. 
"Do you mind if I use you as a sounding board?"

Elizabeth smiled. She was used to this, first from Stan of course, but 
also from Denise in the past.

"Of course not. I'll just listen."

You know about me and Elaine, don't you? Well, you know that she's 
with another girl now, Susan, yes?"

Elizabeth let Denise tell her about the two girls, and how she'd fallen 
into a new relationship with both of them.

"So now, I've got not one but two girlfriends. Trouble is, what I really 
want is a boyfriend. Worst is, I've come to realize who he is."

"Stan," Elizabeth replied flatly, astonishing Denise. "Why do you look 
surprised? You never got over him, did you? Those other guys were 
merely attempts to replace him, not real boyfriends as such, really, 
were they?"

Denise closed her mouth and thought for a moment. At the time, she'd 
really felt for Jim, on holiday. But he was a bit young, and he was fun 
but a bit shallow. Tom? Well, least said, she thought.

"You're probably right, Elizabeth," she said with a sigh. "But now I'm 
left in a quandary. Don't get me wrong, I love Elaine and Susan, but 
we all know that I need more than that, or perhaps something 
different to that. What I don't know is how to go about it."

Elizabeth smiled in distant remembrance. "It was easy in my day, I 
suppose. I'd just go up and tell the guy I fancied him, and ask his 
girlfriend if it was all right. It usually was..." She tailed off. "Somehow 
it all seemed so easy then, so uncomplicated. I suppose you'd tell me 
we were all naïve, and you'd be right, but it was nice at the time."

Elizabeth focussed, and looked hard at Denise. "You need to do some 
serious soul searching, Denise. You have to decide what you want, 
really want, and how much you want it, what compromises you are 
willing to make for it. Take your time, dear, but please be careful and 
try not to hurt anyone." Denise started to protest, but Elizabeth held 
up her hand. "I know you wouldn't hurt anyone deliberately. But you 
have to consider a lot of people, not just yourself. There are four other 
people involved!"

- - - - - - - - - -

On Monday afternoon, before leaving work, Stan made sure he saw 
Denise. "We'll come around to pick you up then, Denise. About a 
quarter to seven?"

"That'll be fine, Stan. I'll see you later." She told him, and went back 
to her current troubleshooting job.

That evening, Denise again took a great delight in a little dressing up.

She wore her 'little black dress'. She'd been told by Elizabeth, "Every 
woman should have one, dear." And Denise had to agree that she 
looked good in it. This one had two thin straps for her shoulders, came 
to about mid-thigh apart from the longer flutter hem which came down 
almost to her right ankle. She'd found a black velvet diamanté belt to 
go with it, and a pair of burgundy satin-finished shoes.

She wore her long wavy hair cascading down her back. A little makeup 
completed her look. She was studying herself in the mirror, turning 
this way and that, when the doorbell rang. Stan and Anne were here.

She collected her shoes - Denise was wearing sneakers, and would 
change once there - and ran to the front door. There she found Anne, 
grinning from ear to ear, and seeming very, very happy indeed. No, 
not happy, Denise decided, satisfied.

There'd been reason for that. Anne had arrived home and got herself a 
quick snack, then got herself ready for the night. She thought back to 
last week, when she'd got so horny dancing with Stan, and then 
afterwards, what they'd got up to... or down to, she thought, with a 
guilty giggle. Looking at the clock, she realized she was almost a half 
hour early. She wondered what to do, and then with a sly grin she 
wondered what Stan was doing. So she called him, and he said he was 
simply waiting.

"Well, come on over!" Anne said.

He arrived scant minutes afterwards. Anne had simply told him, "I 
want you, now," and had pulled him into the living room, bent at the 
waist over the arm of her chair, pulled her panties aside and told him, 
"Now, Stan, I'm horny. Now!"

Stan knew when to do as he was told, but honestly he was worried he 
wouldn't be ready, at first. But when he saw Anne bent over like that 
with her ass wiggling and her pussy shiny with juices he found he was 
very, very ready.

Anne wasn't kidding. She was wet, easily accepting Stan as he 
unceremoniously thrust himself home. He didn't think he'd last long, 
and tried to hold back, but Anne urged him on, grunting "Faster!" as 
he moved in her. Stan went into overdrive, and very quickly he came. 
Anne whirled around and kissed him, then she told him "God, I 
enjoyed that! A change of pace - I think we'll have to do that more 
often!"

So now Anne was at Denise's door, wearing her black and gold high 
collared dress again. Stan took one look at them, glanced at his own 
dark suit and asked them "Where's the funeral?" and then ducked as 
both women hit him, playfully.

Stan drove, and Anne twisted in her seat to look back at Denise who 
was sitting behind him.

"Are you going to go on to the intermediate classes after this, Denise?" 
she asked. "I'm not sure if I want to or not."

"Neither am I, but probably not for the same reason," responded 
Denise. "I think Raoul will still be going, and I don't want to meet 
him."

"What happened to 'I'm fed up with pussyfooting around'?" Anne 
asked, with a slight smile.

Denise looked at her a little sheepishly. "Um, yes, I did say that, didn't 
I? Well, okay, but I still don't want to meet him. But you're right, I did 
mean that I wouldn't hide away."

"Well, there's a difference between going because you want to, and 
going through bravado, Denise. Think it through - it's not as if you've 
got to decide straight away."

They arrived at the school and Stan parked the car. There was a light 
drizzle falling, and Stan got out the large black golfing umbrella he 
used. "I just knew there was a reason golf existed - just to give me a 
good umbrella!" he joked.

The ladies had light jackets, so Stan held the umbrella over both of 
them as they walked swiftly to the school building. They finally dashed 
the last ten yards, giggling. Yves was there.

"Good evening!" he said, talking in the sight of all three together. 
"Well, I must say this is a pleasant surprise, I wasn't expecting you all 
to come together. Is Mr. Orbison with you?"

"No, he is Not!" answered Denise, with sufficient force that even Yves 
drew back. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to come out so loud," she 
apologised. "He and I had a falling out when I found him dating 
another woman last week. Is he still coming?"

"I see. Well, he hasn't said he's not coming, so I assumed that he 
would do so. Perhaps Belinda has heard and forgotten to tell me. She's 
inside, perhaps you could ask her?"

"Thank you, Yves," said Stan, "We'll go and find her." Stan was about 
to turn away when Yves interrupted.

"There won't be any trouble tonight, will there, ladies, Stan?" He was 
obviously concerned. Denise leaned forward and laid a hand on his 
arm. "No, Yves, I promise. I'll - we'll - be good." Stan nodded at Yves 
to reassure the dance teacher. Then he turned and ushered the two 
ladies he was with forward, into the main hall.

Anne spotted Belinda first, the tall elegant lady stood out in almost any 
company. She approached her, and when Belinda finished talking, 
asked her, "Excuse me, Belinda. Good evening. Do you know if Tom 
Orbison will be coming tonight?"

Belinda frowned, but automatically responded, "Good evening my dear 
Anne. He's not here yet, but I see Denise is with you. He's due to 
come; I've heard nothing that says otherwise." Belinda inclined her 
head a little, and enquired delicately, "Is there anything I should 
perhaps know? Perhaps, something that might affect partners?" She 
looked at Denise as she said the last words.

"Well, you could say that!" Denise answered. "Sorry. Yes, Tom and I 
will not be dancing together tonight, or any other night. I caught him 
two-timing me."

"I see. Well, in that case I feel sure I can find him some other suitable 
partner, when he arrives. If he arrives." Belinda answered.

Belinda turned to greet another gentleman arriving. The three friends 
moved away, drifting to stand by the wall.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Stan.

"About what? Tom?" Denise asked in reply. "Look, I said I wasn't 
pussyfooting around. If he does come, I'm going to have a quick word 
with him - nothing too loud, don't worry - and then ignore him. I plan 
on enjoying myself tonight!"

Only a couple of minute later, Stan saw Tom walk in. He saw the 
younger man's head turn, as if he was looking for someone. Then he 
saw Stan, and the two ladies he was with.

Tom looked away, but Denise had seen him as well. She left Stan and 
Anne trailing behind her as she moved purposefully towards her 
former friend.

"So, you thought you could just swan in here as if nothing had 
happened?" she greeted him. Tom recoiled a little, but then turned and 
faced the angry redhead.

"Denise, I - I'm sorry, okay? Just, I'm sorry." Then he turned away, 
but before he could get far Denise again moved, catching his arm.

"Stay away from me!" she hissed. Stan laid a hand on her arm, and 
Denise turned and almost launched at him, too, but caught herself. 
Between them, Anne and Stan drew her gently away, and Tom walked 
quickly off to the other side of the room.

"He's not worth creating a huge scene over, Denise. You said it 
yourself, you want to enjoy tonight. So do we all. Belinda and Yves will 
keep him from partnering either you or Anne, so there's no need to 
worry about that - let's just have fun!"

Before the session proper started, Belinda and Yves came together 
into the middle of the hall. Yves clapped his hands together to get 
everyone's attention.

"Ladies, gentlemen. As you know, this is the last of the introductory 
sessions we have planned for you. Belinda and I would hope to see 
you in our intermediate group, which dances here on Wednesdays, but 
there's no obligation of course. Please see either of us after the class if 
you wish to sign up. Now, without further ado, let us begin."

The first half of the session was much the same as the other lessons 
Stan had attended. He danced briefly with Pamela who had taken to 
the Tango like a duck to water, dancing with passion. Both she and 
Stan made some mistakes, but then, as they laughingly told each 
other, that wasn't surprising - they'd only started this dance last 
week!

They had their normal break in the middle for soft drinks and what 
Anne called 'treats' as she grabbed a packet of sweets. "I wish I could, 
but I'm trying to lose a little weight still," bemoaned Denise.

Anne looked the young woman over with a critical eye. "Why? You've a 
wonderful figure, Denise, curvy in all the right places?"

"Oh, yes, flatter me, why don't you? I know I could stand to lose a 
couple of pounds here and here," patting her stomach and hips.

"Don't be daft, Denise, you look fantastic!" Stan interjected. Anne just 
looked at him, and Denise grinned, saying, "Stanley, please note that 
Anne is your girlfriend, not me, and making comments like that is 
likely to piss her off! It seems you've got away with it this time - at 
the moment, anyhow!" Denise gave a conspiratorial look to Anne, and 
was a little puzzled by the blonde's lack of reaction.

Actually, Anne wasn't in the least upset, and took a moment to think 
about why. She certainly used to be upset when her boyfriend looked 
at another girl, but that was years ago. Now? She wasn't upset when 
Stan danced with Pamela, and she hadn't been upset by Stan blurting 
that out just now. Was she really over her jealousy, at least regarding 
Stan?

She came out of her reverie when Belinda called out "Class? Attend!" 
and the second part of their final lesson began.

This time, Stan's partner to start with was Anne. His thin dark brown 
hair was soon matted with perspiration as he took the blonde for a ride 
around the dance floor, with the walk-walk-step-step-together 
sequence firmly in his mind, and already beginning to embed itself in 
his muscle memory. He still had to concentrate on the dance itself, but 
now he was more able to enjoy the charms of the girl he was dancing 
with - an important improvement, as far as Stan was concerned!

He watched his partner's hazel eyes turn smoky as they moved. Anne 
in turn watched him. The connection that they felt with each other was 
in full bloom here, now, and they felt the rest of the world drop away, 
so that only the two of them were there, no-one else. Stan actually felt 
himself become physically aroused, his dick, though not fully erect, 
swelling in his trousers.

Anne, too, was aroused by their dance together. She felt hot and 
bothered, and by more than just the considerable physical exertion of 
the dance. Anne wanted to pull Stan into a room alone and feel him, 
hold him, take him. When Belinda indicated a change of partners, 
Anne had to pull herself together, but all she wanted to do was 
squirm, and to put her hands in places they definitely shouldn't be 
going in public!

Her new partner was a small mousey older gent named Alfred, and she 
smiled at him, trying not to overwhelm him. They danced along, 
diffidently. Alfred wasn't a great dancer, but he was competent. Anne's 
mind, and her eyes, were elsewhere. Alfred noticed, how could he not, 
and gently released her, telling her that "Perhaps we'd best stand by 
the wall, since you're so obviously distracted, my dear?" Anne nodded 
unthinkingly, and left him, moving to the wall, eyes never leaving the 
dance floor.

The reason for her distraction was Stan's new partner. Denise.

The two of them were moving with appreciable skill and emotion, 
considering their still novice status. But Anne was noticing something 
else. She watched their eyes. She knew that look on Stan's face, she'd 
seen it before. She also knew the look on Denise's face.

She'd worn that same look herself, only minutes before.

She was startled by a touch on her arm. She whirled around, to find 
Belinda standing next to her.

"I thought for a moment that that was you dancing with Stanley. Best 
watch out, dear, she could take him from you if you let her."

Anne merely nodded. She watched the couple moving, in tune with 
each other in the same way that she and Stan were attuned, analysing 
how she felt. Seeing them together ought to make her jealous, or 
unhappy, or worried didn't it?

She was still deep in thought when Belinda clapped her hands together 
and Yves stopped the music.

"Well, thank you all. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves. We'll just do 
a short demonstration now, and then we'll let you go on your way," 
Belinda announced.

Yves cued in the music and the two began to dance. Watching them 
was an amazing experience, Anne decided. They moved with grace 
through a dance designed for quick, passionate moves, and it was 
obvious that their feelings for one another fed into their movements. 
'Just like Stan and me, or Stan and Denise...' Anne thought.

When they finished their demonstration, Belinda and Yves thanked 
everyone for coming. Yves said he hoped to see them all again.

Stan, Anne and Denise went to Yves and Belinda. Stan told the 
Basque, "Thank you so very much for these past weeks. I've enjoyed 
them tremendously. I'm not certain if I'll go to further classes, but I 
fully expect to keep dancing."

Anne chimed in, "It's been great. You're wonderful teachers, and nice 
people as well."

Denise told them, "It's been lovely to see you both again."

Yves glanced at his wife, who nodded almost imperceptibly, and told 
the redhead, "Well, you can come to classes again, you know. You, 
too, Anne, you missed out entirely on the Foxtrot classes. You could 
come to the next set of beginners' classes should you wish. They'll 
probably be starting again in a couple of months or so." Again he 
looked at Belinda, who smiled, looked at the two younger ladies and 
told Stan, "Yes, you too, even though you did the whole thing. But 
only if you want to."

It was Stan's turn to check with the distaff side. Since Denise looked 
unsure he told the older couple "We'll have to think about it, but 
please notify us when you have another course running."

"We have the intermediate course running on Wednesdays, of course," 
commented Yves, but Stan, Anne and Denise all looked less than sure 
about that, so they demurred.

After saying their goodbyes to Belinda and Yves, Stan led the two 
ladies to the door and peered out. "Looks like the rain's stopped," he 
commented.

They walked to the car and got in, each following their own thoughts.

Stan drove, thinking of the dances he'd had with Anne, and then 
Denise. He couldn't deny it; he felt for both of them. But he was 
committed to Anne, wasn't he? He'd have to push the feelings that he 
felt for Denise far, far away where no one would notice them, even 
though he couldn't help but feel them.

Denise sat in the back seat, thinking of Stan. Warm, passionate, 
protective, funny... Stan was just about everything she needed right 
now. But she was in a new and barely understood relationship with 
Elaine and Susan, while Stan was with Anne, in about as big a way as 
it was possible to be with someone. Denise snorted to herself, almost 
silently. She expected to hear wedding bells sometime soon, with this 
pair. 'But what is it that you feel for him?' she silently asked herself, 
with no answer.

Anne, meanwhile, was carefully going through her feelings. She was 
more used to dealing with concrete, intellectual things, but Anne was 
intelligent and bent her mind to the task. How did she feel for Stan?

'I love him. That's a certainty,' she thought. 'I know, beyond doubt, 
that he loves me.' Anne pursed her lips in the darkness, considering. 
'Denise. I think he loves Denise, too. If he loves her, what does that 
mean for the two of us?'

'Can he love us both? Can I love him, knowing that he loves another?'

Anne searched her soul, poking around her feelings.

"Yes. Yes, I can!" she said, aloud.

"Excuse me?" said Stan, from the driver's seat.

"Oh, nothing... nothing darling," she answered.

- - - - - - - - - -