The next Monday morning, Erin waved goodbye to her family and then started on her day, the usual laundry and general housework. Then, the phone rang.
“Hi Erin,” a familiar voice said. “It’s Jen. Carol and I were just having a coffee with another friend and we were wondering if you’d like to join us.”
“I’d love that.” Erin was glad that Jen and Carol couldn’t see her smiling like a Cheshire cat. She spoke in a tone that she hoped was enthusiastic without being over-the-top excited.
“Great. It’s just down the street.”
Erin wrote down the number and hung up the phone. What was she going to wear? She was wearing her usual housework ensemble of tights and one of Zach’s old sweatshirts. She raced into the bedroom. After wasting as much time as she dared, she settled on a clean pair of jeans and shirt. It was just coffee. She didn’t want to get dressed up or anything.
By the time she got to Jen’s house she was puffing. Having friends to visit for coffee was what she'd always wanted. Full of nervous excitement, she'd walked so fast she was puffing.
“There you are.” Jen opened the door and waited for Erin to come in.
“Hi Erin,” Carol said with a smile. “This is our friend Sienna, she lives next door to me, about ten houses up. She’s married, to a man, and guess what? He spanks her, too. It's a bit of a trend,” she joked.
Sienna laughed but waved to Erin. “Hi,” she said. “We were just pouring the coffee. How do you have yours?”
“Hi. Cream, two sugars, please,” Erin answered.
“So those were some interesting discussions last night,” Jen said.
“Yeah, it takes some getting used to.”
“All the spanking talk, you mean?”
“Yeah. Everyone is so open and honest here.”
“Mostly,” Carol said. “But.” Erin felt like that was a pretty big but.
“If the occasion comes up where you might have to tell a little white lie, then I guess you might think a spanking’s worth it. Wouldn’t you say?”
“That would depend on the reason for the white lie.”
“Hmm,” Jen said.
“This is the best place ever to live,” Sienna said carefully, “but don’t you sometimes just want to escape, just for a few hours while the kids are at school?”
“You have kids?”
“Two. They’re in the second grade. Twin boys. Loud twin boys. Sometimes I just need the company of grown-ups, you know?”
“Oh I know,” Erin said. “I barely remember what it was like to be with just women for a while.”
“Hey I live with a woman and I absolutely adore her, but sometimes everyone needs a break from their lives.”
“Of course,” Erin agreed.
Carol, Jen and Sienna exchanged glances and smiled but it was Jen that spoke. “That’s why we play in a bowling league of sorts.”
“Of sorts?”
“Well, there’re only three of us. Don’t suppose you want to make it a four do you?”
“Me?” Erin asked. “You want me to play in your league?”
“Yeah. The only thing is that it’s in Boulder.”
“You travel all the way to Boulder and get back in time for the kids?”
“Uh-huh,” Sienna said. “It’s fun. We have some laughs.”
“I could sure do with some laughs.”
“Well think about it. We play on Wednesday,” Jen said. “I’ll be driving this week. Let us know ok?”
“I will.” Erin felt like a little kid who’d been asked to a party at that friends house, the one that’s always in trouble. She didn’t want to not tell Zach, but she was scared he wouldn’t want her to go. She really wanted to go.
Erin raced back to the house and tidied as fast as she could. She didn’t want the house to look messy when Zach got home. Especially not now. Luckily he wasn’t the white glove type of husband that checked for every speck of dust.
“Mmm,” Zach said, when he walked in that afternoon. “Is that Chicken Cacciatore I smell?”
“It is,” Erin said with a grin.
“You didn’t crash your car, did you?”
“Nope.”
“Get a fine?”
“Nope. Can’t I just make my husband’s favorite meal?”
“You certainly can,” Zach said, pulling her into a warm hug. “Now what gives?”
“I didn’t do anything. Well I did, but not anything wrong. Jen rang me and asked me over for coffee today.”
“Great. Did you go?”
“Yes I did and guess what else?”
“I couldn’t guess. Just tell me.”
“They asked me to play on their bowling league team. They go every Wednesday. It would be so much fun to get out of the house and play a sport. You want me to be healthy don’t you, Zach?”
“Whoa, slow down,” Zach said. “We don’t have a bowling alley in Corbin’s Bend.”
“That’s why they have to drive to Boulder.”
“I see.”
“Please, Zach, it sounds like so much fun.”
Zach did his best to push his reservations aside. “Okay. You go and have some fun.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Erin threw her arms around his neck and smothered him with kisses.
Jordan held up a hand as she walked passed. “Eww. This is a kitchen,” she said.
“You better can that attitude, Missy, or you’ll be eighteen years old before you see that park again,” Zach said.
“Sorry, Daddy,” Jordan said as she crept slowly towards the back door.
“And your Mom.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
“You're forgiven,” Erin said.
“You two are still grounded remember for your antics at the dinner party.”
“Oh yeah. I thought you might have forgotten.”
“I didn't,” Zach said.
***
The next two days seemed to take forever. Erin threw herself into the house and the girls as much as she could, cooking everyone’s favorites and making sure the house was fine. By the night before she was so excited she could barely settle at all.
“You need to get some sleep,” Zach said. “We both do.”
“I’m trying, I just can’t. I could get up and check out what I’m going to wear tomorrow,” she answered. “That would probably put my mind at rest.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t sleep with you rummaging through the closet talking to yourself.”
“I don’t talk to myself? Do I?”
“Uh huh. Sleep.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll just lay here with my thoughts.”
“Ok, but I have to get up tomorrow and stand in front of a bunch of pre teens that will definitely not be lacking energy. So you and your thoughts keep it down to a dull roar. I need to sleep.”
“Okay. Lying still.”
“Good.”
About ten minutes went by and Erin really tried to go to sleep. It just wouldn’t happen. She needed to figure out what she was going to wear. There was no way she could relax until she’d decided on something. Besides, Zach was gently snoring, she wouldn’t disturb him. Gently lifting her husband’s arm that was casually slung around her waist, Erin wriggled as slowly as she could towards the edge of the bed. Just as she was about to slip off, a hand caught the back of her pyjama pants. “Hey,” she said. “I could have been on my way to the bathroom.”
“Were you?”
“No, but I could have been.” She was about to say that she probably would have needed to go as soon as her feet hit the floor anyway but she was unceremoniously flipped on to her belly and a rush of cool air drifted across her rump.
“What you need, is something else to think about,” Zach said, punctuating each word with a solid thwack.
His large hand was warm from being under the bed-clothes and the sensation was not altogether unpleasant. He kept up with some feeble lecturing that soothed more than chastised
. She closed her eyes and let the warmth wash over. The smacks gradually became lighter and she sighed. Finally her body and mind relaxed and she floated into oblivion.
***
The next morning was a happy rush as she tore around the house helping the girls and packing lunches. She would be picked up as soon as the kids had gone to school. It was quite a drive and they needed to get there on time for the game.
Erin was hanging around the front door when they arrived. She was about to shut the door behind her when Jen got out of the car.
“Erin, I just wanted to have a quick word.”
Erin didn’t know what to think. Were they not going? Did they have someone else to make up their four? “Sure, come in,” she said.
“It won’t take but a minute,” Jen said. “I thought you might like to bring a spare pair of shoes,” she said. “And maybe another blouse?”
“Am I too casual for bowling?” Erin asked.
“No, sweetie, no!” Jen said. “But if we finish early we might see what else there is to do in Boulder.”
“Sorry?” Did she just hear right?
“Oh fuck it,” Jen said. “We only go bowling for one quick game and then we have a bit of fun.”
“You lie about where you are?” Erin said.
“No, we don’t lie. That’s why we play the one game. So if they ask did we have fun at bowling? We can answer honestly, yes, we did. Who won? Carol or Sienna. See? We’re not actually lying.”
“I don’t know…” Erin could feel a spanking in her future. Everything in her was screaming at her that this was a bad idea.
“We have to go. Do you still want to come now that you know our secret?”
Erin stood there in her doorway contemplating her choices. Behind her was a very staid, controlled life with people she adored in a place where they’d found peace. In front of her, new friends were keeping the car warm, ready to drive her to a new adventure. Something she hadn’t had for a while. She didn’t know how long she could walk on that tightrope in the middle, but she had to try.
“I’ll just be a second,” Erin said.
Erin paced her room for what felt like an hour but what was probably only a few minutes. She opened her closet door and stared into the abyss. She really needed to get some clothes. At one time she would have had all of her rack and half of Zach’s to go through, but when they moved here her needs changed and she gutted her wardrobe accordingly. Her cowboy boots. She’d gotten them when they went to the Boulder county fair. Those with a nice shirt, and her jeans would be okay.
“These do?” She asked holding them in the air as she ran out of the front door.
“Perfect.”
With her best non-wrinkle blouse under one arm and a pair of cowboy boots in her other, she ran down the path with Jen and jumped in the car.
***
“Isn’t this part of the University?” Erin asked as they turned into the parking area of the alley.
“It is, but it’s open to the public. Day games are cheap and it’s as close as we’ll get,” Sienna said.
It was funny, Erin thought as they walked into the air-conditioned room. You could probably travel all over the world and bowling alleys would be the same. The lights, the smell of fries, corn dogs and old shoes. There were the people who made bowling their thing; they had the shirts, their own balls and shoes. They polished their balls to a high shine and carried them in a special bag. Then there was the rest of the population that shared the shoes. Pretty gross really when you thought about it. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be,” Erin said.
“Did you bring socks?” Carol asked.
“Two pairs,” Erin said.
“Let’s get this game going so we can have some real fun,” Carol said with a grin.
Although it was a token game, Erin found the girls quite competitive, for people who used bumpers, that is. She was quite pleased with her performance. She came second. Carol came first, Jen came third and Sienna came last, not to say that counted because she basically didn’t give a crap. She just walked up threw the ball and walked away. Once it bounced and ended up in someone else’s lane. “So, do you go to the same place every week?” Erin asked.
“We change it up. There’s a whole bunch of bars down on Pearl Street,” Carol said. “We have lunch and a couple of drinks. Well everyone but the driver, of course. That’s why we take turns.”
“So did you have a place in mind today?” Erin asked.
“A bar that does a simple lunch dish. Nothing that exciting but it has a nice atmosphere and tasty food,” Jen said.
“Sounds good,” Erin said. So far not too bad, I mean Zach was no ogre, he wouldn’t mind her having lunch. Not that she could tell him, she’d promised to keep the girls secret. If she was honest with herself, it was the secret was making this more exciting.
***
The place was dark and not as quiet as you’d expect in the middle of the day. There was obviously a party of sorts going on at the other side of the room. When a couple of the girls staggered by to get to the bathroom it became clear. “Oh, it’s a bachelorette party,” Erin said.
“Happy wedding!” Carol called out.
“Sweet,” Jen said. “Fun times when you’re young.”
“Hey, we’re not exactly old,” Sienna said.
“I know, but they don’t have to throw a couple of drinks down and be back in time for the school run, you know?”
“I know, but we wouldn’t really change that would we?” Carol asked.
Jen thought for a minute. “No, but I think I would have paid more attention when I was young to how much fun I was having.”
“Here, here,” Erin said. “I think you just hit on how I feel. We take life for granted sometimes.”
“Well we’re not too old to live a little now,” Carol said. “I have an idea. Why don’t we have ‘live young again Wednesdays’.”
“What does that even mean?” Sienna asked with a giggle.
“Every Wednesday, instead of just having lunch, we do something we always wanted to do but didn’t get the chance.”
“Wow,” Jen said. “That is brilliant.”
“I’m in,” Erin said.
“Although I have a really bad feeling about this, count me in,” Sienna said.
Erin and Carol went to the bar to get the first round of drinks. They could see that the bachelorette girls had stopped and were talking to Sienna and Jen.
“Wonder what that’s about?” Erin said.
“Maybe we’re crashing their do,” Carol answered. “I don’t remember seeing a sign or anything.”
They carried the drinks over to the table and set them on the table. “Hi,” Erin said when one of the girls smiled at her.
“I was just saying to your friend,” The girl with the sash on said, “that you are all welcome to join our party.”
Carol blinked but said nothing.
“That’s nice of you,” Erin said.
“You’d be doing us a favor really,” the girl said. “I’ve come all the way from Texas, because this is where my fiancé’s’ family comes from. Some of my friends from home dropped out.”
“Oh, sorry,” Carol said.
“There’s lunch and there’s gonna be a male stripper show after.”
“Great,” Carol said with a smile that was just a bit fake.
“Why don’t we take a vote?” Sienna asked.
“Oh, cuz that would be fair,” Carol said. “The three of you with your tongues hanging out and one non plussed les girl who also can’t drink because she has to drive.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if they were girl strippers,” Jen teased.
“I’m very happy with the woman I have, thank you very much,” Carol said, poking out her tongue.
“Okay, well I’ll just go and let y’all decide. I just wanted you to know you were welcome.” The blonde bride-to-be said before tottering away on her high heels.
“It’s not like I’m really intereste
d, I just want to window shop for a little while,” Jen said.
Carol shook her head and grinned.
“Sorry, honey, but I’m in,” Jen said.
“Me, too,”‘ Erin said with a wince. “Sorry Carol.”
“That’s a big fat yes from me, too,” Sienna said, slinging an arm around Carol. “It’ll be fun.”
Carol sighed. “I tell y’all what. I’ll watch your naked men show, but next week, I get to pick the first ever weekly ‘live young again Wednesday’ and y’all have to go along with whatever I choose.”
It pleased Erin that they were able to reach an easy agreement. She wanted to stay but not if Carol was seriously unhappy.
“Besides, I’m hungry and free lunch sounds good,” Carol said, leading them all into the next room.
The food was delicious and there was plenty of it. Stations, in a line at the bottom of the room, offered choices of mini burgers, tapas, little cups with Caesar salad and some with noodles. There was even a Chinese station with egg rolls, steamed pork buns and other little delicacies. Erin was in her element. Too nervous to eat any breakfast, she was starving. “This is so good,” she said, taking another mouthful of noodles. “The sauce is amazing.”
“Look at the dessert bar!” Carol squeaked with excitement.
Erin had been looking at it. It was positively sinful. She would have loved to have made up some candy bags for her girls if that hadn’t meant admitting where she’d been all day. “I have to have a piece of that cake,” she said.
“Oh yeah.”
“I’m not much of a sweet person myself,” Sienna said, tucking a shrimp bun into her mouth.
“I’m not touching that one,” Jen said with a giggle.
“Nope,” Carol said giving Sienna a friendly shove.
“It’s starting, it’s starting,” Sienna said, dragging Erin to sit at a table.
“Yay,” Carol said with a role of her eyes at Jen.
Jen took her arm and towed her away from the dessert table, although she allowed her to take a loaded plate with her. “Come on! You’ll have fun,” she said.
The music to Devil Woman started pounding and three men wearing firefighters’ costumes strutted out on stage.
Jen and Carol looked at each other and burst out laughing. “What are the odds?” Carol said, cackling into her bowl of candy.
Leading the Way Page 7