by Thomas Henry
“Probably going to run at least a couple hundred dollars. Maybe two-fifty.”
“That’s not so bad.”
“Per person.”
“No shit? Per person? Oh, well, Karen’s worth more than that.”
Karen nodded vigorously.
“It’ll make a good impression,” I said. “It’s a very nice place. They even have a dress code that requires more than a t-shirt and shoes.”
“Like what? A tuxedo?”
“They’re not quite that fancy, but they do require at least a long-sleeved dress shirt, and they prefer jackets.”
“Sounds good to me. Give me a chance to wear one of the suits I brought from the Mainland when I moved here. Seems like nobody wears suits here.”
“Yeah, it’s not like the good old days. I remember when guys would show up at the concert hall in a tux, but not anymore.”
“Okay, sounds like we have a plan. I’ll email Karen and see when they’d like to go, and I’ll let you know.”
As soon as I touched the button to end the call, Karen smacked me on the arm and said, “Oh, so he’s the one! Mai told me about your little threesome, but I didn’t realize that Bill was the guy.”
I was trying to read her, but I couldn’t. Was she upset? Titillated? “When did Mai tell you about that?” I asked.
“That time the four of us went to Hana.”
“What’d she say?”
“Not much, really. She was just commenting on how you like to watch her with other men. I guess that was her way of explaining why she agreed to have sex with Ted.”
“Didn’t say anything about me buying a house for her mother?”
“No, but like I said, she really didn’t say very much about it.”
I didn’t know where Karen was going with this, so I decided to keep my mouth shut and wait. After a minute or so, she said, “So tell me about it. How did the three of you end up in bed together?”
I took a long, deep breath. “Well…it all started because Mai was pissed at me. As you know, she usually doesn’t make a big deal of what I do when she’s gone, but she expects to be my one-and-only when she’s in town. So she was gone, and I met this young woman named Tiffany when I was in Atlanta on business. We were having dinner one night when she mentioned that she always wanted to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Well, Mardi Gras was only a couple of weeks away, and Mai was out of town, so I offered to take her.
“Normally, Mai doesn’t come back to Hawaii until May or June when the rainy season starts over in Vietnam. But this particular year, she surprised me by coming back early. In fact, it was just a couple of days before I was to meet Tiffany in New Orleans. Well, I already had made all the arrangements, and Tiffany was all excited about going to Mardi Gras for the first time, so I went ahead and took her. And as you might imagine, Mai didn’t react to that very well.
“While we were in New Orleans, Tiffany and I had our picture taken in front of a riverboat that was taking us on a dinner cruise on the Mississippi. After I got home, Mai found my copy of the picture, and the shit hit the fan.”
“You mean she didn’t know you were with another woman in New Orleans?”
“Oh, she did, but it all was sort of abstract and vague to her...until the picture made it very real…and, I guess, kind of threatening.”
“Threatening how?”
“Well, in addition to being gorgeous…nearly as gorgeous as you…”
“Keep shoveling.”
“In addition to being gorgeous, Tiffany happened to be black. And I think that made Mai feel insecure.”
“Because she was black?”
“Yeah…you know how black people are stereotyped as being so good in bed. I think Mai was worried that she might not measure up to Tiffany’s capabilities. And you know what they say. Once you go black, you never go back.”
“Oh? Are black women really different?”
“Not really. I mean, in some ways, I suppose. But not necessarily in sexuality.”
“So how are they different?”
“Well, you know…different races have different characteristics besides skin color. Body shape, texture of hair…things like that.”
“But black women aren’t better in bed?”
“Well, as John Heywood said, ‘When the lights be out, all cats be gray.’”
“What’s that mean?”
“When it comes to sex, a woman is a woman. It doesn’t matter what race she is.”
“Oh, so when it comes to sex, any woman will do, because we’re all the same?”
“Oh, no…that’s not what I meant. I just meant that what makes a woman good in bed is the woman herself, not whatever race she happens to be.”
“So you don’t think that race plays a part at all?”
“Not really. I mean, maybe it’s a factor in sex appeal, but not in actual sexual performance. When it comes to sex appeal, some men are attracted to blue-eyed blonds; some are attracted to Asians, and so forth. It’s just a matter of personal taste, sort of like having a preference in ice cream flavors. And, then there’s the exotic, forbidden-fruit aspect of having sex with someone of a different race. But when it comes to sexual performance, I don’t think race makes any difference at all.”
“Sooo…if I had sex with Bill, it’d be just like having sex with you?”
My stomach lurched and my balls tightened. “Yeah, probably exactly the same.”
Karen smacked me on the arm again. “You’re full of it. Okay, so anyway, Mai was upset because you had sex with a “gorgeous” black woman. So where does Bill fit in?”
“I guess Mai wanted some payback. She wanted to try to make me feel jealous and insecure, and she figured that going to bed with a black guy would do the trick.”
“So how did you find out about it?”
“Well, Mai didn’t come home one night. The next morning, she called and made quite a point of telling me she had spent the night with a black man…and then had me listen on the phone while she had sex with him again.”
“Oh, wow! Were you jealous?”
“A little. But I refused to give her the satisfaction of letting it show. So then she doubled down by inviting me to have a threesome with them. I guess she figured that watching him fuck her would have a bigger impact on me than just listening on the phone.”
“Yeah, I would think. So where did Bill come from, anyway? Was he one of your friends?”
“No…Actually, I’d never met him before the night we had the threesome. And I think Mai had known him for only a short while. I think she said she met him in a night club.”
“Rumours?”
“I never asked.”
“So…the threesome must have gone pretty well.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Seems like you and Bill are friends now.”
“We get along pretty well. After the threesome, Mai continued to see him from time to time. As you know, she doesn’t drive, so Bill sometimes came up to the house to pick her up or drop her off.”
“And that didn’t upset you?”
“Oh, not really. You know how Mai is. She’s a great piece of ass…if you’ll pardon the expression…but she can be a pain in the ass, too. Sometimes I’m kind of glad to have him take her off my hands for a while.”
“I see. So would you be glad to have him take me off your hands for a while, too?”
“You, Sweetheart, are a totally different story.”
* * * *
Bill made the arrangements for our dinner date with Karen and Marilyn, and I provided the transportation. My Mercedes coupe is big enough to seat four comfortably, but being a two-door, it makes getting in and out of the back seat a bit of a challenge, particularly when you are all dressed up. And Bill’s little BMW isn’t much better. So, for our dinner date with Karen and Marilyn, I decided to break out my four-door Bentley Turbo R, which I don’t drive very often. Mostly it sits under a cover in my Halawa man-cave, along with the other cars in my collection.
On Saturday night, Bill and I met the women in front of the Wal-Mart Store. Karen and Marilyn didn’t want us to pick them up at home because they were concerned that their neighbors might see. So, as she had done when she first started going out with me, Karen parked her car at Wal-Mart because it’s open 24 hours.
As I turned into the parking lot, I spotted the women ahead, standing in front of the store. They couldn’t have looked more out-of-place than they did surrounded by Wal-Mart shoppers.
Marilyn wore a full-length strapless lace dress that was split up to the middle of her right thigh. The black lace was backed by a fabric that was so close to her skin color that, from a distance, I thought I was seeing her bare hide through the lace. With her copper hair again in a French twist, her appearance was both elegant and seductive at the same time.
Were it not for the fact that she was wearing a dress I had bought for her, I might not have recognized Karen. For the first time since I had met her, she wore her dark hair up, with little ringlets escaping here and there. It was darling, and gave her an air of innocence that was belied immediately by her dress.
Karen’s dress was a sparkly cranberry thing not much bigger than the dress she had worn to Rumours. This one was backless, down to the curve of her butt, and it stopped mid-thigh. But the fabric wasn’t as sheer or stretched as tight as the Rumours dress, so she wasn’t as much at risk of exposing herself. It had a strap around her neck and a string around her back that pulled it tight under her breasts, supporting them much like a bikini top. The taught fabric clearly telegraphed her nipples and belly button. I could see just the slightest hint of the panties and garter belt I knew she was wearing.
I pulled the Bentley up in front of the women. Bill put down his window and said, “Hey girls! Want some candy?”
They both seemed taken by surprise. I wasn’t sure what they had been expecting, but apparently the Bentley wasn’t it. Even though she had been to my man-cave many times, Karen had never seen it, because I always keep it covered. So, she was just as surprised as Marilyn when Bill put down his window and propositioned them.
I touched the button next to me and put Bill’s window back up as he climbed out of the car. He left the front passenger door open for Marilyn, and he opened the back door for Karen.
Marilyn was wide-eyed as she settled into her seat. “Wow. Is this your car?”
I nodded as I glanced at the rearview mirror, watching Karen slip into the back seat. I had left the arm-rest up, so she could slide over to the center and make room for Bill. He closed Marilyn’s door and ducked into the back seat next to Karen. He closed the door, and I eased the car out of the parking lot.
“Is this a Rolls?” Marilyn asked.
“Bentley, actually. But they’re similar. Back when this car was made, Rolls-Royce owned Bentley.”
“I’ve never been in one before.”
“I don’t use it much myself, but I brought it tonight because the car I usually drive is only a two-door, so it’s a bit awkward for a double-date.”
I glanced in the review mirror. Bill and Karen were holding hands, and he was whispering in her ear. Her eyes met mine in the mirror. She winked and spread her knees slightly. I could see the tops of her stockings and the straps of her garter belt. She spread a little more and gave me a glimpse of her panties. My heart skipped a beat as Bill slipped his hand up her inner thigh and wiggled his little finger against her crotch. Karen squirmed and giggled and gave his arm a playful smack. He squeezed her thigh and withdrew his hand.
I was having second thoughts about having bought such a sexy ensemble for her to wear on a date with Bill. She had overheard me telling him about La Mer’s dress code for men, and she decided that she didn’t own anything that would be suitable for her to wear. So, I offered to take her shopping.
Watching her try on clothes is almost as stimulating as watching her flirt with other men, but without the knot in my stomach. So when she tried on that cranberry dress in the store, I had to buy it for her. In fact, I ended up buying her stockings, garter belt, and panties as well. At the time, I guess I got carried away by the effect her outfit had on me, and I sort of lost track of why she would be wearing it.
When we pulled up in front of the Halekulani, one valet opened both doors on the passenger side and gave Marilyn his hand while the other valet trotted around to me. “Going to La Mer?” he asked as he handed me the claim check. I figured it was a rhetorical question. Why else would anyone come to a Waikiki hotel dressed in a suit?
I gave Marilyn my arm and led the way as we strolled through the lobby and over to the staircase that would take us up to the second-floor restaurant. I glanced back at Bill and Karen. They were holding hands. Bill was grinning like the cat who ate the canary.
Our table was on the side of the restaurant that faced Diamond Head and overlooked the House Without A Key. A former Miss Hawaii was dancing hula to live music on a little stage under the old Kiawe tree. The sun had set, and a full moon was rising behind Diamond Head, causing the water along Waikiki Beach to sparkle. I felt like I was watching a Hawaii Visitors Bureau commercial.
La Mer is not a place you go if you are hungry…or on a budget. The food is excellent, the presentation superb, and the service impeccable without being snooty. But the portions are very small and the prices are hefty. A basic three-course meal is $110, and you’ll go away hungry. Four courses are $145, and the seven-course Menu Degustation runs a whopping $175. Add another $85 for the wine pairing.
Karen and I had been to Sunday brunch downstairs at Orchids several times, but I never had taken her to La Mer. I could see the shock on her face as she looked at the prices at the bottom of the menu. Marilyn was inscrutable as she perused her menu. I figured she knew what to expect, inasmuch as La Mer had been her idea.
The food was excellent, and the waiters particularly attentive. The live music was a bit annoying to me because it made it hard for us to talk, but they shut that down about halfway through dinner, so it wasn’t too bad.
On my recommendation, everyone ordered the soufflé for dessert. While the waiter cleared the table in preparation for dessert and coffee, the ladies excused themselves and went to the restroom.
After they had disappeared from sight, Bill placed his hand on his chest, feigning a heart attack. “Man-o-man! She’s killing me! What a sexy little doll! I can’t remember a time when I wanted a woman so much. My balls are aching.”
I tried to keep the stress I was feeling out of my voice. “She does look great. They both do.”
Bill nodded and wagged his forefinger at me. “Trust me on this. They want to get laid. They both do. I don’t care what she says, that Marilyn wants it, too. Woman doesn’t get dressed up like that to go out with a guy she’s not interested in.”
“I don’t know. Maybe what she wants, and what she’ll actually do, are two different things. I mean, she’s married.”
“Yeah, but so is Karen. And I know damn well she’s gonna end up riding my cock, sooner or later.”
My own cock swelled as my gut twisted. I was at a loss for words, so I just nodded and looked out at the full moon.
A couple of minutes later, the ladies returned. Karen gave me a subtle smirk, as if she knew a secret I didn’t.
The soufflé and coffee were great. We enjoyed them mostly in silence. I was wondering where this all was going to go next. I suspect that the others were thinking about that, too.
When we walked out of the restaurant, Bill and Karen were in the lead. She steered him toward the elevator. I thought perhaps her high heels were hurting, and she didn’t want to have to walk down the stairs in them. Mari
lyn and I followed them.
Inside the elevator, we stood four-abreast. I was between the two women. As the elevator bumped to a stop at the end of its one-floor descent, I felt Karen’s hand at the pocket of my suit jacket. When the door opened, Karen and Bill once again took the lead. I dipped my hand into my jacket pocket and found something silky. I was pretty sure it was Karen’s panties. Inasmuch as they were a symbol that she belonged to me, I wondered what to make of the fact that she had taken them off. As I fingered them, I found a very creamy wet spot.
Bill and I hadn’t planned anything else in particular for the evening, so I decided to take the scenic route back to the Wal-Mart parking lot. We cruised down Kalakaua and looped around Kapiolani park to Diamond Head Road. When we got to the lookout at the top of the rise, I turned off the road and eased the nose of the car up near to the low coral wall that serves as a guard rail between the lookout and the steep cliff down to the ocean.
“Ever been here before?” I asked Marilyn.
“No. What is this place?”
“They call it a ‘scenic lookout.’ In the daytime, you can look out there and see Molokai, and maybe even Maui.”
“What about at night?”
“People come here at night to watch the submarine races.”
She leaned forward and stared out the windshield. Aside from the moon and some of the brighter stars, the only things visible in the darkness were a few small lights on boats and a jetliner cruising in from the Mainland. “I don’t see anything.” She suddenly sat back in her seat and shot me a look. She chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, okay…I get it. You had me going there for a moment.”
She glanced back at Karen and Bill and raised her eyebrows. I looked in my mirror. They were kissing. And Bill had his hand high up between Karen’s thighs. And Karen’s panties were in my pocket. My heart skipped a beat and my balls started to ache.
I looked at Marilyn. She met my gaze for a moment and then looked back out at the dark ocean. “Oh…oh! I think I see the submarines now!”
She turned back to me and winked. She pointed to a spot in front of the car and started to open her door. “C’mon. We can see better out there.”