Chapter 45 — An Apology

_March 10, 1984, Chicago, Illinois_

{psc} Had Stefi come to me on Monday night and said what she'd just said, I'd have been seriously concerned, but it was five days later, and we were sitting in a restaurant fully clothed. Two things gave me pause — birth control and her regular church attendance. The first one was easily remedied, as there was an Osco on the way back to Stefi's dorm. As for church, that wasn't my problem, so long as I clearly communicated my position.

While those things gave me pause, the larger issues were whether I wanted to be with her and if I was ready to be with someone new. It really was a question of 'when', not 'if' at this point, and the ultimate question was if I was ready to fulfill her fantasy. There was no question of attraction, as she had long, dark hair, brown eyes, and a nice body, not to mention an obvious desire to be with me. Who was I kidding? Of course I wanted her.

And that brought me back to 'should I' and 'should she'. I was positive that at some point, there was going to be a first new girl, if not today, then potentially Alexa, or, I thought, Violet if she could accept my situation. And that was really the question for Stefi. The correct course of action was to lay it out and let her decide if she could accept that.

"If we do what you're suggesting, I can't make any promises beyond doing my best to fulfill your fantasy, and I need to say upfront that going to church isn't on my agenda and isn't likely to be."

"I don't care! Thinking about it is driving me crazy!"

I had one last chance to be sure I was ready for this, and I felt I was.

"If you're sure," I said, "finish your dessert, and we can skip the movie and go to your dorm room."

"Oh, God, yes!" Stefi moaned.

I wondered now if *I* could handle her rather than the other way around! The pent-up sexual energy that was going to be released might move seismographs in California. We both quickly finished our dessert, and after I paid the check, we left the restaurant. The only fly in the ointment was that I'd used the valet service, which meant retrieving my car, finding a place to park to go to Osco, and then parking in a garage a short walk from the school.

Stefi fidgeted while we waited for the valet to bring the car and almost leapt in when the valet held the door for her. I went around to the driver's side and got in and once the doors were closed, drove away.

"I need to stop at Osco," I said. "I wasn't prepared."

Stefi laughed softly, "I'm on the Pill to regulate my period. My mom had kittens when my doctor prescribed it when I was sixteen, and she didn't want to fill the prescription. My aunt finally talked her into it, but I wasn't ever allowed to be alone with a guy after that."

"I don't agree with your parents on that, but given my mom got pregnant with me when she was fifteen, I at least understand your mom's point."

"It was dumb because I never really thought about doing it until last Monday. Then, all of a sudden, I HAD to do it!"

I pulled into a parking garage a few blocks from Stefi's dorm, and after parking, we walked quickly to the exit, then the two blocks to the dorm. Stefi let us in with her keys and signed me in. She led me to the elevator, which we took to the fourth floor. When we stepped out, I followed her down the hall to her room, which was a single. She opened the door to let us in, then closed and locked it behind us. She turned on the overhead light, and we took off our coats and shoes.

"I want to see it," she said, her voice dripping with desire.

I nodded and removed my rugby shirt, t-shirt, jeans, socks, and briefs. Knowing what she wanted, I was already rising to the occasion.

"Oh, God!" Stefi moaned. "Can I touch it? Please?"

"Whatever you want," I agreed.

Stefi moved to where I was standing, and I felt her hand on my rapidly hardening shaft. She squeezed gently, then traced her fingers upwards to my glans. She wrapped her hand around it and squeezed softly.

"Oh," she cooed. "So hard and so soft."

She surprised me by dropping to her knees and pressing my glans against her cheek. She moved her other hand to cup my sack and lifted just enough to weigh my balls.

"So cool!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

Stefi spent several minutes exploring, including stroking me, cupping my sack, squeezing gently, rubbing my glans on her cheek, and examining me closely.

"I want to kiss it," she whispered, looking up.

I nodded, and she planted a quick kiss on the tip, then another, and a third. She began kissing down along my shaft, and when she reached the base, she kissed each side of my sack before kissing back up to my glans. She kissed it again, this time, though, with her mouth slightly open so that her tongue touched the slit. She repeated what she'd done before, but this time, her tongue traced along my shaft.

When she completed that cycle, she grasped my shaft and held my glans to her cheek while fondling my sack. After a minute, she moved back a bit and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on my glans. This time, she swirled her tongue around and around, then opened her mouth wide, moved forward, and closed her lips around the base of my glans.

Stefi moaned softly, then began sucking gently and running her tongue over my glans, causing me to twitch and groan in pleasure. After a minute, it dawned on me that she knew what she wanted to do but had no real idea how to do it.

"Stroke me while you bob your head up and down, so your lips move along my dick," I instructed. "And slide your tongue around."

Stefi moaned again, and I felt her soft hand grasp me and begin stroking. She began moving her head so that her tongue and lips slid over my glans and along my shaft. The pleasure was exquisite, and the desire burning inside her made up for inexperience. My pleasure built slowly but then became overwhelming, and I knew I was close.

"Stefi," I said. "You know what's going to happen, right?"

She released me, looked up, smiled, then quickly took me into her mouth. She stroked faster, sucked harder, swirled her tongue faster, and squeezed my sack slightly harder. Thirty seconds later, I twitched twice, groaned, and the first spurt of cum splashed into Stefi's mouth. She moaned and redoubled her efforts, coaxing spurt after spurt, hungrily swallowing my cum.

She kept up her ministrations for about five minutes after I'd cum, and the pleasure was intense as I was extremely sensitive after an orgasm. She finally released me, then planted numerous kisses all over my dick.

"So cool," she breathed, then stood up. "I need it in me!"

She stepped back and quickly shed her clothes. My erection showed no signs of subsiding, so I maneuvered Steif to the bed.

"I want to see," she whispered urgently.

Instead of having her lie down, I moved the pillows and had her sit on the edge of the bed with the pillows behind her. I helped her into a reclining position, resting on the pillows and supporting herself with her elbows, then moved between her legs. Just below her dark pubic hair, I saw labia slick with juices, and I was positive she was ready.

I grasped my shaft and rubbed my glans along Stefi's labia while she watched wide-eyed. When I was coated with her copious juices, I moved to the correct spot and slowly pressed forward, spreading her labia.

"Oh!" she gasped as I entered her. "Oh!"

She was dripping wet, so I simply continued sliding into her and had no trouble pushing all the way in.

"Oh! OH! *OH*!"

I slowly pulled back, and Stefi watched intently as I began fucking her with long, slow strokes. I felt her squeeze her muscles, which intensified my pleasure, but I'd cum recently, so there was no way I wasn't going to last a long time despite the exquisite feel of her tight, slick tunnel.

After about two dozen strokes, I pulled out completely and moved onto the bed. I lay on my back and had Stefi straddle me. I helped her mount me, and she moaned loudly as she slid down my shaft. At that point, nature took over, and she began moving up and down and back and forth, grinding against me.

Just over a minute later, she tensed, held her breath, squeezed her muscles, and ground hard against me. Her breath exploded from her mouth, her body shook, and she groaned deeply as her pussy spasmed hard around my rock-hard shaft. That orgasm unleashed her, and she began moving more wildly, bringing herself off several more times before I blasted cum deep inside her, setting off a tremendous orgasm, the strong spasms of her pussy milking cum from me and causing my head to spin in ecstasy.

When both our orgasms passed, Stefi stretched out on top of me and put her head on my chest, panting hard. I was breathing heavily as well, despite Stefi being the one who had exerted herself. Over the next five minutes, our breathing returned to normal, and I softened and slipped from her.

It dawned on me we hadn't kissed, even once, despite her giving a blow job and fucking. I decided there was one more thing to do before our first kiss, so I gently moved Stefi onto her back, moved down, got between her legs, and kissed the insides of her thighs. I planted kisses along her labia, then pushed my tongue in and teased her clit. I slipped my arms under her legs, lifted them, moved my hands to her firm breasts, and strummed her nipples as I closed my mouth around her clit.

"UNGH!" she groaned "UNG! UNGH! *UNGH*!"

She began flexing her hips and, a minute later, had a strong orgasm. That one was followed by two more over the course of ten minutes before I moved up beside her.

"I want to suck you again," she breathed.

Not being an idiot, I didn't object, so she slid down and rested her head on my stomach. She explored with her hands, lips, and tongue, and when I was hard, she began bobbing, sucking, licking, and stroking, all the while cupping my sack. I'd cum twice, so I knew she'd have to work harder.

After a few minutes, I put my hands on her hips and encouraged her to straddle my face. She did so and moaned deeply around my shaft when I flicked her clit with my tongue. Our sixty-nine lasted for nearly fifteen minutes before I had my release, which was a perfect reward for the four orgasms I'd given her with my tongue.

When she finally released me, she moved off me but didn't turn, instead resting her head on my stomach and running her fingernails along my shaft. She played with me for about ten minutes before blood began flowing again, and she moved on top of me to sixty-nine again.

This time, though, once I was hard, I encouraged her to move off me. After a bit of maneuvering, she was on her back, I was between her legs and plunged into her slick tunnel. I began fucking her with strong strokes, and after about a dozen, she wrapped her legs around me and began humping wildly. We fucked _hard_ for fifteen minutes, with Stefi moaning, groaning, and gasping for breath as she had four good orgasms before I pushed as deeply into her as possible and came hard.

When my orgasm had passed, I raised my head and pressed my mouth to Stefie's mouth. She parted her lips, and our tongues tangled in our first kiss. We kissed until I softened and slipped from her, at which point I rolled off her and lay on my back next to her in her twin bed.

"Unreal," she breathed. "Way better than my dream!"

"It was fantastic," I said.

"Can you just keep doing it for as long as we want?"

"No," I replied. "Physiology being what it is, three, possibly four more times, with longer in between, before I need to sleep to recover."

"The rules say you can't sleep over," she said. "But I want to suck you while you lick me twice, then have you on top and go hard like we just did."

"I'm more than happy to oblige."

Two and a half hours later, we got out of bed, and I borrowed a towel from her so I could walk down to the guys' showers. She put on a robe and went to the girls' showers, and when we were both clean, we met back in the room to dress.

"I was surprised you didn't start with kissing," I observed.

Stefi laughed softly, "I wanted it so bad that I didn't want to waste time!"

"Was that your first ever kiss?"

"Yes!" she declared mirthfully. "And after I sucked you, we screwed, and you licked me!"

"Are you going to church in the morning?" I asked.

"I don't think I can after what we just did! That's not exactly OK in their eyes."

"And yours?"

"If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't have. I wanted to! I know you said no promises, and I accepted that, but if you want, you could come over next Saturday. I could touch and kiss and lick and suck your gorgeous thing all afternoon and evening until midnight curfew!"

"Tempting," I chuckled.

"We can do anything else you want, too! But if not, I totally understand."

"OK to let you know on Wednesday or Thursday?"

"Yes! I need to walk you down and sign you out."

"OK."

She came over to me and put her arms around me. I hugged her back, and we exchanged a soft French kiss.

"You fulfilled my fantasy," she said dreamily. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure! Literally!"

We kissed again, and she escorted me to the lobby, where she signed me out. I said 'good night', then left the building and walked to the parking garage, where I retrieved my car. I drove home, and when I went into the house, it was dark, but I saw light coming from Deanna's studio, so I pulled down the stairs, climbed partway up, and saw her staring at a partially finished abstract painting with her brush on her chin.

"Mind if I come in?" I asked.

"No! Come on!"

I climbed the stairs, then pulled them shut, and Deanna put down her brush and took off her smock. We sat down, side-by-side, in two bean bag chairs.

"So?" she asked with a smirk.

"I normally don't talk about what I do or don't do with girls except with them or witnesses, but after our conversations the past two weeks, I'm going to make a permanent exception for you."

Deanna smiled, "I appreciate that."

"The shortest way to say it is that if you and CeCi are interested in a threesome, I'm game."

"Wow! That's a change!"

"You're going to be inclined to disbelieve what I tell you, but it's completely true. Monday was the first time she'd ever seen a grown man naked, and her imagination and libido ran away with her."

"You're serious?"

"As a heart attack! She said once she saw it, she started obsessing and dreaming, and during dessert, she told me she gave me her number because she wanted to do all the stuff she imagined. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the movie. Instead, we went back to her dorm, where she fulfilled her fantasy – she had me strip, explored my dick and balls, gave me a blowjob, had me take her virginity while she watched, rode me, engaged in sixty-nine, and had me fuck her before we exchanged our first kiss, which was her first one ever."

"No way!" Deanna exclaimed. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. After that, sixty-nine twice, and then we fucked like crazed bunny rabbits. We showered and dressed, then she signed me out, but only after asking me for a repeat performance next Saturday."

"That's just crazy enough to be true and puts the letters in _Penthouse_ to shame!"

"Letters?"

"Guys write in with their stories, which are usually obviously exaggerated. Yours would be over-the-top! What changed?"

"Remember I was in the 'if' stage? Tonight, it was the 'when' stage, at least with regard to being with a new girl. I knew I'd eventually do it, so why not with a girl who clearly was dying to have uninhibited sex with me?"

"I suppose that does make sense. Are you OK?"

"Yes. I suggested we go back to her dorm because I'm still not ready to invite someone into Keiko's and my bed. I'm absolutely going to wait until the new bed is in the condo for that. One other interesting point — Stefi was a regular church-goer until tonight."

"Huh?"

"She went to a Baptist church in Oklahoma and to Moody Church here. She said after tonight, she can't go back."

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?"

"Jonathan, you clearly didn't use rubbers…"

"She went on the Pill at sixteen to regulate her period. She said her mom freaked out when the doctor prescribed it and refused to fill the prescription until her aunt intervened. From that point on, Stefi wasn't allowed to be alone with a boy."

Deana laughed, "And then they let her come to Chicago to attend a school that is a complete den of iniquity! And one thing is for sure – you and I are going to fuck each other senseless very soon! Well, assuming you're OK with that."

"I don't think I'm back to 'normal', but I'm not sure I can ever go back to the old normal. It's finding the 'new normal' as you suggested."

"I'm happy to see in…let's call it a more normal state. I spent some time with Tasha this afternoon and showed her the budget. We're going to start looking at furniture. Given today's developments, we're going to furnish your room first so that you have a love nest to use for the next few months."

I chuckled. "I appreciate the thought. I'm not planning to go crazy."

"No, but crazy always seems to find you!"

_March 11, 1984, Chicago, Illinois_

When I woke up on Sunday, I got out of bed, emptied my bladder, shaved, showered, and dressed, then went downstairs to have breakfast. I ate with Jack and Kristy, then spent time in the Japanese room reading the _Trib_, _Crain's_, _The Economist_, and the _Wall Street Journal_. At various times, Bianca, Juliette, and CeCi sat with me and read. Jack and Kristy went out for the day, and everyone else had had lunch together.

Ellie showed up at 1:00pm as we had planned for our study session. We went to the basement so that we didn't prevent others from using the great room or Japanese room.

"Today, we'll talk about how Spurgeon's FX desk operates and how they make money," I said.

"OK," Ellie agreed.

I spent the next two hours explaining how to use futures and options to manage exchange rate risk, international settlement, exchange rate arbitrage, and money management.

"How do you make money?"

"Every transaction has an associated fee, usually a fraction of a percentage of the deal. If we have a sufficient supply of both currencies, we don't pay any external fees, which is the best-case scenario. If we don't, then we purchase the currency on the open market, negotiate the exchange rate, and split the fees with the counterparty. Fees are where we make the most money, though it's a tiny amount per transaction.

"We make more on exchange rate arbitrage, keeping the difference in rates as our profit. And then there's currency speculation, which I explained using the Bolivar as an example. Those are rare opportunities, but they can be extremely profitable."

"Could you lose money?"

"Yes, if you're holding too much of a currency that declines in value against other currencies. Say, for example, you were holding Bolivars when they were devalued — you would lose money because you could buy fewer goods or exchange them for fewer dollars or pounds. You could also be in a position where you needed to acquire a large amount of a currency and couldn't find a counterparty who was willing to give you a good rate."

"I thought they were fixed."

"They are, and they aren't. There's the published rate, but remember what I said about private or 'dark' trades in stocks? That can be done with currency as well. If Mr. Matheson calls a banker in Singapore, they can agree to make a direct private trade at any rate on which they agree. I did that with shares in Hawaiian Airlines, where we found a private party to sell me a large block of stock away from the exchange.

"Remember what we talked about last Spring — you and I could agree to trade stocks sitting here in my house, and it's perfectly legal. The same would be true if you had been on vacation and had British pounds you no longer needed, and I bought them because I was going to London."

"Right, I remember that. The goal of the exchanges is an efficient, ordered market, but you can make backroom deals so long as you follow the rules."

"Exactly."

"Will you hire me when I graduate?"

"I can't guarantee it, but I'll do my best. Remember, Noel Spurgeon is in complete control and has the final say about hiring and headcount. You're minoring in computers, right?"

"Yes."

"That'll give you a leg up because computers give us a huge edge, and we need to stay ahead. Two weeks?"

"Yes. How are you doing?"

"OK, actually. Work keeps me busy, and I have my friends. I'm still working through my feelings about Keiko and dealing with my emotions. Things are improving, but not totally back to normal. Well, what will pass for what Deanna called a 'new normal' anyway. How are you doing?"

"About the same; I miss her, but life has to go on."

"Yes, it does."

"Are you seeing anyone?" Ellie asked.

I had a sneaking suspicion where that question might lead, and that was a situation I didn't care to revisit. That meant a careful answer was required.

"CeCi still goes out with me on Friday evenings," I said. "And I spend time with Bianca, obviously, and Violet. I'm not ready to start any kind of relationship at this point."

"That makes sense."

We were finished, so I led her upstairs. At the front door, she gave me a quick hug, and I stood on the porch until she got into her friend's car. Once she'd driven off, I went back inside.

I helped Juliette make dinner, and after dinner, Deanna, CeCi, and I got into the hot tub. Bianca's doctor had advised her against it, so she and Juliette stayed in the house.

"Are there any rules?" CeCi asked.

"You mean about sex? No. I'm taking each day and each opportunity as it comes. Well, except I decided not to use my bed. That'll change in the condo when I have a new bed and new bedding. I know it's not logical, given I've been with both of you, but it still feels as if it would be disrespecting Keiko to use our bed."

"Logic does not apply to mourning," Deanna observed. "Can I ask an extreme favor?"

"You can always ask, and nothing you ask for will upset me."

"Are you _sure_ about that?" she asked with a silly smile.

"Go for it!" I chuckled.

"The actual favor was that you, CeCi, and I christen your new bed."

"I can see my way clear for that," I replied. "And the _other_ thing that popped into your mind?"

"We all take each other around the world!"

I laughed, "You want to do that to me again badly enough that you'll invite me to do it to you?"

"Strangely, it was a turn-on. But I know you aren't particularly interested in either giving or receiving."

"For a special occasion, for two very special girls, I could see my way clear."

"We have about a month to figure it out," Deanna said. "We can do that before everyone moves in. CeCi?"

"I'm game if you two are. I'm going to miss the hot tub."

"Me, too," I said. "But there are large whirlpool tubs in four bedrooms. The other two are the nursery and the art gallery. It's not quite as good, but two people easily fit in those, and you could squeeze in three with one facing the other two. The master bathroom has a large stall shower, and the other ones have smaller stall showers."

"Can I see it?"

"Deanna and Natasha have keys, so either of them could take you, or I could show you next Friday."

"Friday is probably better because of class and work."

"You know, I don't think I mentioned it, but," I switched to a poorly faked Italian accent, "the rent stays like-a before!"

"OK, Signor Roberto!" Deanna said, causing both CeCi and me to laugh.

"Didn't he lower the rent?" CeCi asked.

"Well, when you show up with Vito Corleone, I'll consider it!" I chuckled.

Deanna smirked, "There's always the trope of the young, innocent girl fucking her landlord because she can't pay her rent!"

"Too late!" CeCi said mirthfully. "My innocence disappeared in April of last year and I'm not about to go looking for it!"

"I'll pose for you, CeCi," I said.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thanks so much!" CeCi gushed.

"Does that mean you'll say 'yes' to Britney, too?" Deanna inquired.

"I'm leaning towards doing it," I replied. "And I also think I'm going to act on your suggestion for the Fall with the community theatre."

"What's that about?" CeCi asked.

"An outlet for Jonathan's emotions and a way for him to reduce stress."

"And all those available thespians who have zero inhibitions!"

"You mean like art students?" I chuckled.

"Guilty as charged!" CeCi declared.

"Me, too!" Deanna added.

"I'm very happy to have both of you as friends," I said. "It's helped me tremendously."

"Us, too," Deanna replied. "Right, CeCi?"

"Absolutely."

_March 12, 1984, Chicago, Illinois_

Monday was, thankfully, an attorney-free day. There were no major world events, and the US markets seemed to be in the doldrums, waiting for the Fed to act. The next opportunity for a regular rate change was in a week. Things in the Research Department were firing on all cylinders, and I was very happy with the quality of the combined daily analyst report.

After lunch, something popped into my mind that I'd forgotten. I picked up the phone and dialed Julie, Noel Spurgeon's secretary.

"I'm looking for a week when the house in Saint Martin is free later this year."

"There are dates in October and December."

"Nothing in July or August, while school is out?"

"No."

"OK. What are the December dates?"

"The 15th to the 23rd."

I consulted my calendar and penciled those dates in.

"I'll take those days," I said. "Thanks."

"Traveling companions?"

"TBD," I replied. "I'll let you know before the end of November."

"OK. I'll reserve the plane for the flights as well. Depart in the morning of the 15th and return the afternoon of the 23rd."

"Thank you very much."

We ended the call, and I dialed Trish in Personnel to arrange the time off. I had her include the following week, plus the 31st, so I could have ten consecutive trading days off, as required by firm policy. Once I finished, I let Violet know the dates.

"Who are you taking?" she asked.

"I haven't decided. We can discuss it later, OK? Just update my schedule, please."

"Will do!"

I left the Research office and went to the FX Desk office and asked Mia to see Mr. Matheson. She sent me in. and I let him know about my scheduled vacation. He approved, which I was sure he would do, and I left his office and returned to my desk.

"Jonathan, Violet said from the door to my office about ten minutes later. "Anna Bergdahl would like to see you."

I was almost certain that her motivation was my vacation request, but given how she'd reacted to me going to Kansas, there was no way I was going to take her to Saint Martin, even if I reconsidered my view on dating someone from Spurgeon, which I had not. Bianca was an obvious exception, as was Violet, but those were pre-existing relationships.

"About?" I asked, despite my certainty.

"She didn't say. I could call her back and ask her."

I didn't want to put Violet in the position of asking, so I simply asked her to let Anna know I was available. Two minutes later, Anna appeared in my office and came over to my desk.

"I owe you an apology," she said.

"For?"

"Accusing you of putting Bev in front of everything else. That obviously wasn't true."

"Believe it or not, I could see how it looked that way from the outside, despite it wasn't true. But you know what? You would have known that had you given me a chance to explain. Instead, you broke up with me and flat-out refused to discuss it."

Anna frowned, "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"Can I buy you a drink as a way of showing I'm sorry?"

Which was her way of trying to restart the relationship and, as I saw it, take the trip to Saint Martin. That was absolutely not happening, and I wasn't going to start down that path.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I replied.

"OK. I am sorry."

"And I accept your apology."

She left, and I turned back to my Bloomberg terminal. The rest of the day was routine, and as was the norm for Mondays, I met Deanna for dinner. After dinner, we headed to the Art Institute.

The pose was, as Deanna had suggested — Alexa and I reclined against pillows side by side in a twin bed with the sheets pulled up to just expose the top of our pubic hair. During our first break, I let Britney know that I would pose for her, and she was ecstatic. At the end of class, Alexa and I went back to Claire's office.

"Only one more nude," I said as we began dressing. "I was surprised by that."

"Anytime you want a private viewing, just let me know!" Alexa declared. "With no more nudes after Wednesday, there isn't any real risk. Well, unless you go for Speedos instead of trunks."

"Trunks."

We finished dressing, and Alexa opened the door. She stepped out, and a strawberry-blonde girl stepped in.

"Hi, I'm Kelly," she said. "Can I ask you what might seem like an odd question?"

"Sure."

"Who did you vote for in the mayoral race?"

"Washington," I replied. "Why?"

She smiled, "My roommate is black, and I wondered if you'd like to come to our apartment and play with us after class on Wednesday?"

Deanna had not been wrong, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go down that path, so I temporized.

"Let me think about it, and I'll let you know before class on Wednesday, OK?"

"Great!" she exclaimed.

I walked out of the office to find a smirking Deanna.

"Told ya!" she teased.

"She invited me to, and I'm quoting, 'come to her apartment and play with her and her roommate'."

Deanna tittered, "And?"

"I said I'd let her know on Wednesday before class. It is a bit strange because her roommate hasn't even seen me."

"No, but Kelly sure has! And she was the one who said, 'Jesus!' that first night."

"Let me ask you a question — if it was a choice between sleeping with you and going with them, what would you advise?"

"That I have exactly what I want — a patron and hopefully a lover for life. I'm not the monogamous type any more than you are. You know I was with a guy while you and Keiko were together, and I'll probably be with other guys occasionally. You don't object to that, so, if you want to have fun, have fun."

"No judging, but John Margolis?"

"No, because I'm not going to give him something to lord over Mr. Spurgeon, and I'm sure as hell not sleeping with your boss!"

I chuckled, "You're four or five years too old for him."

"You don't approve, right?"

"Only because he's putting the entire firm at risk because they're under the age of consent."

We hailed a cab and got in. The cabbie dropped us at the Hancock Center, where Deanna and I retrieved my car. Thirty minutes later, we were in the house. We watched the 10:00pm news, and when we went upstairs, Deanna invited me to her bed, and I accepted.

_March 13, 1984, Chicago, Illinois_

Tuesday turned out to be another attorney-free day, which made me very happy, though I knew it couldn't last. I had thought through Kelly's request and decided against it because it felt wrong. I couldn't put my finger on why, but it certainly had nothing to do with her roommate being black. That had, in fact, intrigued me, though I knew, intellectually at least, that all the parts were in the same place and worked the same way.

I wasn't sure what I'd do about Alexa or Claire, but I had until May to decide. On the other hand, I had very much enjoyed Saturday afternoon and evening with Stefi, and her offer to spend ten hours orally pleasuring me was certainly enticing. I could see no reason to turn that down, and strangely, that was more interesting than Kelly's offer.

As I thought about it, what gave me serious pause was the 'sight-unseen' situation with the roommate. It was one thing for a girl who had met me to want to fool around; it was another thing for a girl who hadn't. While that had been true with CeCi, my final decision hadn't been made until after she'd arrived and we'd spent some time together. Even Mary Kealty, who had appeared at my apartment with the intent of having sex, was after we'd seen each other a few times. , Stefi and I had gone to dinner and had time to talk before we'd gone back to her dorm.

I thought back to Allyson, who was probably the one exception — Kristy and I had been on a date and had met Allyson, and she and Kristy had immediately decided on a threesome. Even Allyson's parties, including the one where I'd met Bianca, had involved some interaction before deciding to fool around. Kelly's offer was, if I interpreted it correctly, basically to walk in the door of her apartment and immediately begin fooling around.

All of that thinking led me to think about what kind of rules or guidelines or whatever I might put in place to keep things from getting completely out of control the way they nearly had with Ellie and her insane baseball game. The question was where to draw the line, so to speak. I had been with Deanna and CeCi, and there was no doubt in my mind that I'd be with Bianca again, which likely meant Juliette as well.

There was a good chance I'd be with Beth, given things she'd said. Marcia was dating someone fairly seriously, so despite the vibes I had from her, that wasn't likely, though I knew she wanted to be with me again. The thing was, she thought there might be a possibility of a romantic relationship, and I didn't feel it, even setting aside my conversations with Deanna.

Most of the other girls had paired off with someone, though Josie, Meg, Miranda, and Kasey were all only dating casually. There were also Katy and Esme, who I was sure were available, given they were on something of a sexual rampage at Princeton, having done their best to experience every possible option, including threesomes in every possible configuration. There were also the other girls who'd expressed interest in a casual encounter, Alexa and Claire, who I'd thought of before, and Natasha.

And then there was Violet. She was probably both the simplest and most complicated of all the girls. Simplest because I'd wanted to be involved with her from the first day I'd met her and had made what I wanted clear by putting her previously-chewed gum in my mouth. Most complicated because of her history and because she was unquestionably in love with me. My concern for her had shifted from her having a very bad reaction to attempting to have sex or having sex to needing more than I could provide with regard to a relationship.

Because of that, I was happy that Violet had put off her answer to my saying I was ready to share a 'real' kiss. If she said 'yes', which I was sure she would, then she and I would have to have a serious talk to ensure we didn't do anything to harm our relationship.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and resumed my analysis of currencies and exchange rates.