Chapter 39

"Where, Anne?" asked Stan, mildly. But he was anxious, twisted up 
inside. "Is it far?"

"No, Stan, not far. I'll commute. It's about an hour each way, about 
sixty miles or so up the motorway."

"So you're going to stay with us?" asked Denise, looking and 
sounding troubled.

"Yes, of course!" Anne answered, sitting up straight.

"Thank God!" muttered Stan, and Anne took his hand in both of 
hers. "I wouldn't leave you, silly!" she told him.

"Good! 'Cuz we're not planning on letting you go!" Denise 
exclaimed.

Suddenly, Anne just simply broke down. Her face crumpled and she 
turned away from them both. Stan could hear her sobs. He and 
Denise moved together to comfort the crying woman.

Stan kissed her underneath her ear, while Denise restrained herself 
to merely hugging her, murmuring "It's all right. We love you, 
Anne," repeatedly. Anne simply let them do this for a while. Then 
she shook herself a little and pushed them away. She stood, sniffing 
back her tears and fetched herself a tissue. 

Stan watched as one of the two women he loved fought herself back 
under control. He was continually amazed at Anne's control, her 
self-discipline. When her mastery over her feelings, burst like this 
he knew there had to have been a major reason.

Finally she seemed to be in command of herself again. She looked 
up at Stan, then over to Denise. She told them both, "I'm sorry 
about that. I don't know what came over me. I'd been holding this 
in for a while, now, since Sid got into contact with me. He told me I 
had to keep it secret, "deeply under the rose" as he put it, and I 
couldn't say what was happening to anyone. But in the end I had to 
tell you, I had to. It wasn't fair to you, and it wasn't fair to me, 
either. I'm so sorry, and then you go and say that to me. I thought 
you'd both be upset and angry with me. To be quite honest I was 
frightened about what you'd say. Thank you!"

As Anne spoke, tears began to flow down her cheeks again and, at 
the last, her voice broke once more. But she visibly commanded 
herself to stop, Stan could feel the order radiating out from her 
centre, and she dabbed her eyes once more.

"God, I must look a mess!" Anne said. Denise immediately replied 
"God, I wish I looked half as good as you even when you are a 
mess!"

"Ladies!" Stan called, making a "Time-Out" motion with his hands. 
"You're both beautiful! Stop trying to out-humble each other!"

Denise looked at him and stuck her tongue out. Anne reached over 
and gently punched him on the arm. Denise clipped his ear. 
Suddenly they both launched themselves at him.

For a while it looked as though Stan might win and pin them down, 
even with both of the ladies combined against him. But then Anne 
demonstrated that she'd been paying attention to his reactions in 
bed - she tickled him underneath his foot. Stan howled, he flopped, 
he begged, but with Denise grabbing his other foot he had no 
chance. Eventually Denise had mercy on him and let go, and Anne 
followed suit. Stan had tears in his eyes, but the other two were 
grinning from ear to ear. Denise turned to Anne and held up her 
hand for a high five, and Anne slapped it.

"And let that be a lesson to you!" Anne told him.

"What for?" he asked, gasping

"Whatever! I'm sure you must have done something wrong!" she 
answered him, and Denise nodded in agreement.

Stan was happy that they'd stopped tickling him, but even happier 
that the mood had taken a turn for the better.

"So, can you tell us the story, now?" he asked Anne, once he'd got 
his breath back.

"Well, okay, but this really is hush-hush, all right?" she told them. 
"Sid's come up with a pretty innovative design idea, and asked me 
to come up with an independent proof-of-concept design to show to 
some venture capitalists. He's setting up a company to complete 
the design and turn it into a real product, if he can get the finance 
in place. I don't know much about that end of things, sorry.

"But I've just finished the first simulation run of the POC design, 
and it comes out clean. So I sent it to him this morning, for him to 
get some more in-depth simulations run - I can only get so much 
done here, and I can't do it at The Firm, obviously. So, for the 
moment, my extra work hours are at an end. Thank goodness!"

"That's got to be good news, anyway," Stan said, and his sentiment 
was echoed equally by Denise.

"Yes, well... it's only a temporary respite I expect. But to really go 
further I have to have access to more powerful tools than I can use 
at home, and that's going to be dependent on Sid getting the 
financing. If he can manage that, then I expect I'll be handing in my 
notice the next day. That's one of the reasons I've been pushing 
hard at work, to get my project wrapped-up there as far and as 
clean as possible so Percy can appoint someone to take it over with 
a chance of success."

"You do realize what you're letting yourself in for, don't you?" asked 
Denise. "That commute's going to be hell!"

"Tell me about it!" Anne groaned, "but it's the only way, really. I 
simply can't do the work from home at all, even if I wanted to - I 
need those software tools, and a high end workstation to run them 
on."

"When?" Stan asked.

"If it comes off at all, that is, if Sid gets the first tranche of money, 
it'll be soon. January, February at the latest. I fully expect to hand 
in my notice in January and be working full-time for Sid very soon 
after that.

"But in the meantime, we've got Christmas and New Year. I expect 
that'll be my last chance to really relax for a while, and I want to 
make the most of it!"

"Cheers to that!" Denise exclaimed!

- - - - - - - - - -

Christmas was coming fast, and Stan was wondering what to get for 
his special ladies. He had to find something for his assistant, 
Elizabeth, too.

As usual, Stan did most of his shopping online. He quickly found the 
perfect gifts for 'his ladies' as he was now accustomed to thinking of 
them, and something for the older lady. He also selected personal 
gifts for Denise and Anne.

- - - - - - - - - -

Of course, every day at The Firm they still saw Elaine. Stan could 
tell that Denise was having a difficult time adjusting once more to 
having Elaine as only a friend, not a lover and confidante. He knew 
it was something that only time could cure, so he and Anne simply 
did their best to help her through it.

Now that Anne was free of the bone-numbing workload that she'd 
been under, and merely working about ten hours a week overtime, 
she and Stan took Denise out as much as they could.

It was Friday, less than two weeks before The Firm had its annual 
Christmas party before closing down until the New Year. Stan had 
managed to get tickets for "The Phantom of the Opera" at Her 
Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, - it was Denise's first West End 
Musical.

"Are you sure I'll like this, Stan? I mean, musicals aren't really my 
scene," she told him on the drive into London.

"Oh, yes, you'll love it!" Anne replied before Stan could answer. 
"There's something about live musical theatre. I just love it. And it's 
not as if you don't like the songs - You've been humming 
"Phantom" for weeks now."

"Yes, but that's because Stan bought me that Nightwish album, and 
it's on that. I don't think it'll be quite the same!"

"You'll be surprised, I think," Stan said. "Its pretty close. Yes, 
Denise, I'll stake dinner out tomorrow night on it. You'll love it."

 "But you're already taking us out tomorrow, Stan," Denise 
protested.

"Then I can't lose, even if I lose, can I?" he said, smiling at her in 
the rear view mirror.

Parking in London was never easy, but Anne had an advantage - 
Sid had opened an office there, well within easy walking distance of 
Southgate tube station. It had an allocated parking space that she'd 
made sure was free. So Anne was in the front reading the 
directions. Stan hated driving in London, but it was easier if he 
didn't have to navigate. It was a case of adjusting to it, and Stan 
found that he became more assertive as the drive went on. He had 
to, to make headway - everyone else was intent on taking full 
advantage of any hesitation! They made it with plenty of time to 
spare, got out and walked the short distance to the Tube station.

They got off at Green Park, and walked the quarter mile back up 
Piccadilly to St. Jermyn's Street and the theatre. Stan's careful 
research had ensured good seats - it was easy to get cheap ones, 
where the view was partially obscured by pillars - and after 
ordering interval drinks they sat down to enjoy the Phantom's use 
of Christine as his face and voice to project his music.

Stan liked 'Phantom', but he'd seen it before. He kept a careful eye 
on Denise. This was her night, and he wanted to be sure she was 
enjoying herself. After all, it was his suggestion. To his delight, it 
was obvious that she was more than just merely enjoying the show 
- she was spellbound. Good!

At the interval, they ran laughing to the bar and grabbed their 
drinks. The ladies had gin and tonics and Stan had just tonic as he 
still had to drive home.

"That was superb!" Denise yelled in his ear over the hubbub.

"I told you!" Stan answered in similar style. "There's something 
about Musical Theatre that's just more than simply going to the 
cinema. I love it, I just wish I could go more often!"

Tonight, Stan was wearing a smart black suit and tie, with a white 
shirt - basic 'smart dress', but not the full tuxedo. Anne was also 
wearing black.  The tall, elegant woman was in a simple off-the-
shoulder 'little black dress' that emphasized her long legs and slim 
figure, while Denise was wearing a longer length dress in a deep 
shimmering emerald green with a deep décolletage that emphasized 
her bust and drew the eye away from her waist. Earlier, Stan 
couldn't help a feeling of pride as he saw eyes - and heads - follow 
the ladies as they had walked with him to the Piccadilly Line station.

He also couldn't help but notice that both Anne and Denise were 
getting admiring looks. Neither was above a little preening under 
the attention they were getting, but both made it perfectly clear - 
by hugging Stan every chance they got - that they were taken. 
That made Stan preen!

They went back to their seats, and Stan allowed himself to enjoy 
the rest of the show without distraction. At the end all three were 
on their feet applauding, then it was time to go back to the car and 
get themselves home.

Anne was sleepy by the time they got to Stan's Mondeo, and he 
thought he could remember how to get out of London, so he let her 
close her eyes and drift away. A little over an hour later they were 
home. Stan woke Anne up and turned to Denise to find that she 
was awake, bright eyed.

He smiled at her, and her answering smile left him in no doubt as to 
what she wanted next. Stan was pretty tired, it was well after 
midnight, but his adrenaline had been flowing as he drove quickly 
home, and he felt awake, and alive.

Stan quickly walked around and helped Anne out, then opened the 
door for Denise. Together they assisted Anne into Stan's home and 
up the stairs. She tiredly kissed Stan goodnight, waved to Denise 
and said "Have fun!" before going to bed.

Stan and Denise were barely into his room before he was on her, 
hungrily taking charge. He undid the fastening on her dress while 
tasting her lips, caressing her mouth with his hungry tongue. She 
plastered herself against him, one hand behind his head pulling him 
to her, the other on his ass, forcing his erection, already solid, 
against her sex.

There were a very few, short moments when they tore themselves 
apart to take off their clothes, but soon Stan was able to push 
Denise onto the bed, lying against her and caressing her with one 
hand while he held her hands captive with the other. Denise 
moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. His urgent need suddenly 
brooked no delay and he passed his hand between her legs to find 
her lower lips engorged, open and very, very wet.

Denise was as turned on as he was and quickly he slid into her. She 
moaned, "Oh, Stan..." in pleasure into his ear as he kissed her neck 
just below her ear. Stan was in heaven too, feeling his dick encased 
in warm, wet velvet. He took her hands in one of his, pulling them 
up and laying them flat on the bed above Denise's head as he 
began to thrust into her. This wasn't going to be a slow, sensual 
lovemaking, this was raw sex and it seemed Denise was on fire as 
much as he was, matching him move for move.

Stan ground a little at the peak of each thrust, working his pubic 
bone against Denise's hood, bringing gasps and moans from her. 
Stan's awareness contracted down to only feeling her body under 
him, writhing in pleasure in tune with his movements as he 
expressed his lust. Her red hair was matted to her forehead as she 
frankly rutted with him, sweating and gasping. He was grunting a 
little with the effort himself, but he knew this wouldn't take long. 
Before Denise could go over her peak Stan found himself emptying 
his balls, eyes shut, mouth open and his whole body rigid as steel 
as he forced every last millimeter of his cock as deeply into Denise's 
cunt as he could.

He fell off Denise and rolled away, then rolled back to embrace his 
lover. She smiled at him.

"Sorry," he said, but Denise laid a finger on his lips, silencing him.

"No need, Stan. I don't know what got you fired up, but whatever it 
was, we'll have some more of it! For now, let's just cuddle and 
sleep, and we'll see about picking up again in the morning, hmm?"

Post-coital lethargy was stealing over Stan, but he didn't want to 
leave her high and dry. He drew himself up on one elbow and 
placed his other hand on her mons, caressing her open lips with his 
fingers, feeling the mixture of fluids there. Denise started to protest 
again but Stan leaned into a kiss that silenced her as effectively as 
her finger had silenced him a moment earlier.

He put pressure on her clit with the body of his hand as he pushed 
first one then a second finger into her, feeling her response as she 
arched her back. He heard a muted "Mmm!" as she exhaled into his 
mouth, and he began to finger-fuck her, expertly. This was 
something that he'd become good at in twenty years of marriage, 
and Denise was still not completely off the boil from the sex a few 
minutes ago, so it wasn't long before he felt her muscles spasm in 
release.

Stan never tired, knew he never would tire of experiencing this, 
bringing a partner he loved to orgasm. It was enthralling, and now 
he was able to express his love, not just his lust. Denise opened her 
eyes as she came down from her first orgasm to find Stan watching 
her, maintaining eye contact as his fingers caressed Denise's outer 
lips. He whispered "I love you," and Denise smiled, then caught her 
breath as Stan began to play more urgently with her, shifting so he 
could play with her ample breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth 
and teasing it with his teeth, stroking it sensuously with his tongue.

He brought Denise to another, higher peak before she grew too 
sensitive and pushed his hand away. "Enough, Stan!" she told him, 
and he subsided. Denise lay beside him, gradually coming back to 
earth before throwing both arms around him, kissing him soundly 
and telling him "I love you too, you beast!"

They slept soundly for the rest of the night.

- - - - - - - - - -

A week before the actual Christmas break began, it was The Firm's 
Christmas lunch. In accordance with long-standing tradition, this 
was on the Thursday before the break, consisted of starter, main 
course and sweet, and was served by the directors of the company.

Stan, Anne and Denise entered together. Out of the corner of his 
eye he saw Denise look startled, and looked to see why.

Elaine was at a table beckoning them on, smiling brightly. Stan 
gave a small shrug and went where he was bidden, pulling Denise 
along behind him. Anne had no hesitation and settled in next to 
Elaine. Stan sat opposite on the table of four, leaving Denise 
nowhere to sit except next to Elaine on her other side.

"Well," Elaine explained, "I think it's silly, you and me not being 
able to talk to each other. So I thought I'd solve it. Besides, I have 
news."

Denise sat silent, so Anne said, "News? Do tell!"

Elaine smiled. She brought up her left hand for all to see. There, on 
her ring finger, was a ring. A ring with a small, but significant, 
solitaire diamond.

Anne gasped, but Denise squealed. She reached forward and 
quickly hugged Elaine, saying "Oh, congratulations Laney!" before 
she suddenly let go, looking embarrassed.

"Don't be a silly muppet!" Elaine said, a little cross as she grabbed 
her and hugged her back. Then she held her hand in front of her 
and said "It looks good, doesn't it? We bought identical rings. We 
plan on the ceremony being sometime in the spring." Elaine looked 
down at the table. "I'd love it for all of you to be there," she said, 
softly.

"I'd love to be there, too, Elaine," Stan answered. Anne nodded 
firmly, too, but Denise looked doubtful.

"Denny, please say you'll come? I really want you to, you know?"

Denise opened her mouth, shut it again, appeared to think for a 
moment and tried again. "Laney, I'd love to come, but I'm not sure 
Susan will want me there. I don't want to cause a fuss or anything."

"Hush," Elaine told her, "let me handle Susan, and I'll make sure 
you realise that you're wanted, by both of us. Okay?"

Denise nodded, and Elaine looked happily from one to the other at 
the table. "Now, let's see what's inside the Christmas Crackers!" she 
said, brightly, "I want to enjoy the meal!"

Stan looked around. They were the centre of attention, and some 
knowing looks were being directed their way, but he decided that 
was a problem for another time - for now, he'd simply enjoy himself 
in the company of three beautiful women, two of whom he loved, 
and who loved him back.

- - - - - - - - - -