by T. S. Hill
We wore our farmer/rancher clothes, and I sported my new beard, which Rosita had also complemented me on. It was my hope though, that we would not be seen by anyone who would recognize either of us. We had just exited the gravel and dirt road onto the highway, when Lori opened our conversation.
“So, this shrimp dish, moqueca? What exactly is it?”
“It’s a Brazilian stew, made with fish, shrimp, seafood, whatever you may have handy. Why Brazilian? I haven’t a clue! Rosita’s from Venezuela. Go figure! But, it’s unique, yummy, and hard to describe. If you like seafood dishes, you’ll love it.” If Rosita intends to impress, she will succeed! Because, this dish is impressive!”
“So, you’ve had it before?”, Lori asked.
“Once or twice over the last two years.”, I replied.
“You know that Rosita has the hots for you.”
“I’ve known that for a while. Honestly, she’s come on to me, at least once or more, every two or three weeks, over the last two years that she’s worked for me. Like I said, I’ve always followed the policy, of not mixing the boss - employee relationship with pleasure.” Lori had a little smirk on her face.
“Oh, I thought so.”, she quipped.
“But.” I pointed out, “I noticed today, that she seems to be really warming to you too!”
“Hmmm.”, she mused.
“Yeah, you noticed it too, huh?”, I pressed.
“Well sorta.”, she meekly admitted.
“Do you have that effect on all women? I know that you do on all men, except maybe gay guys, and who knows, you might even be a cure for gayness. First Sasha, and now Rosita, who I never woulda thought would be playing for both teams. Come to think of it, there were a couple of waitress that seemed to give you a little extra attention too.”
“Oh, for shit, Cowboy! No, not all women! Just some. A few. Here and there, and Sasha and Rosita just happen to be a couple of them. Your sister, Allie wasn’t attracted me.”
“Thank goodness! I never want it to get that kinky!” Lori laughed.
“Well, with the possibility of Sasha doing work for you too, maybe it’s just a work place hazard.” I laughed at that comment, but immediately began worrying about potential employment complications.
“Maybe they both need to be independent contractors. You know, housekeeping contractor, research contractor?”, I said, thinking out loud.
“If it makes you feel better Cowboy, why not?” She laughed again. “I’ve never seen anyone agonize so much over a couple of pieces of tail, that you haven’t even come close to touching, yet. Well, I guess, technically, Sasha did touch you. Just lighten up Cowboy and see where the water flows. Okay?”
“Maybe I’m taking all of this too seriously, Lori. But I take you serious. And, I take us serious. I don’t want anything bad to happen to us, or to come between us.”
“I promise Cowboy! I’m not going to let that happen. I don’t want another woman in our relationship full time, always there, kind of thing. But hey, maybe part time, or occasionally, one that we both are fond of and approve of? It could be an enhancer. I could see someone like Sasha or Rosita as aunties to our children.”
“So, you’re speaking about boundaries that we control. People have roles in our relationship, but they’re not unlimited roles, like you and I have, and will have.”
“Bingo Cowboy! It’s taken me a while to sort out what I didn’t have words for, but you just defined it perfectly. If they can’t be in the relationship with those boundaries, then they have the choice to not be there. It’s a free country! It’s our relationship, and we, you and I, set the boundaries, together. It has to be all about us Cowboy. I mean, be considerate of other people, but still, it’s us, and what we want, and don’t want, has to be the priority.”
“Sounds like a deal to me, Lori. Deal?”
“Deal Cowboy!”
I let out a big sigh. “I feel relieved! And a whole lot more positive, about the prospects of an arrangement that includes another woman.”
“Good!”, Lori said.
“Or women.”, I added.
“Double good!”, she quipped.
“Was that even a pun?”, I asked. She playfully slapped my arm, and then slid over in the seat next to me, hanging on to my arm with both hands. “There’s still some aspects of this that we need to be straight on, and need to have thought out thoroughly, before we act further on this.”, I told her. “But, let’s allow where we’re at with this now, to settle in, so that we can more intelligently discuss it later.”
“I agree completely Cowboy.”
Our turnaround at Lori’s storage room, went smooth, and within twenty minutes, we had all of her boxes secured in the truck bed, and tied down. The whole operation wouldn’t have taken, ten minutes, were it not for my paranoid security patrol, sweep, and constantly scanning our surroundings for any signs of trouble or danger.
I complained of my own paranoid habits. But, Lori assured me that she appreciated my ways, and felt much safer when I was in one of my high alert phases. I sometimes wonder if I’m not a little overboard with it all, but when you’ve been shot at, sometimes hit, cut, thrown off of bridges, and the like, as many times as I have, it’ll make you that way.
After we cleared the city limits of New Orleans, and I was sure that we weren’t being followed, I began to relax a little, and let go of the adrenalin pumping paranoia. We rode in silence until we were about fifteen minutes away from the tree house. Lori spoke first.
“You been thinking about what we were talking about earlier?”, she asked.
“Yeah. You?”
“What else?” She chuckled.
“I guess you’re wondering what I’m going to be thinking when I see your dick in Aunt Rosita, or Auntie Sasha trying to swallow it.”
“And what about when our faces may be stuck in their pussies? Have you thought about that?”, I added. “Personally, I might get used to that.”, I admitted. “You know I like licking pussy! What can I say?”
“And you’re fucking good at too Cowboy!”
“Why, thank you Mam!”, I hammed it up.
“Seriously, though Lori, have you ever even tried pussy licking? Ever fingered a girl? Toyed with her clit?”
“No Cowboy. I’d never kissed a girl, or woman, until Sasha and I kissed. That was what, day before yesterday? It seems so strangely long ago now. I had wanted to before, but was always afraid, and feeling guilty for wanting to. So, I never allowed it to happen before. And I’d never touched a girl with those feelings in me before, like when she and I touched. It was different from just everyday touching. I can’t explain it, but it’s different.”
“I think I kinda get that part.”, I let her know.
“The mouth - pussy-cunt part Cowboy? I think I’ll like it okay. But, I guess I really won’t know until I’ve tried it. I imagine I’ll be really nervous and self-conscious trying it for the first time. I’ll have to figure that out as I go. I don’t know for sure how I’ll actually react to any of it until it’s real. I’ve never touched another pussy-cunt besides my own. Nor had a woman touch mine. I do know one thing. Little Sasha is going to have to get that pussy-cunt waxed! With all that fingering and as wet as her pussy got, did you see that matted up mess?”
“I did notice that, and agree. Don’t worry. I’ll spring for solon visits all around. Make a girl’s day of it. I’ll benefit from it as much as you girls will. Maybe more!”
“Since we’ve had these talks, I can detect that you’ve having a shift in attitude.”, Lori said.
“I love you Lori, and I want you to be happy, and I guess, just as importantly in the long run, I want us to be happy.”
“Yup, Cowboy, I think us is more important than either of us alone.”
“We should write all of this down, and put it in a book. It’d probably be a best seller! We come up with a lotta good stuff!”
“Actually, we do! But, I’ll leave the book writing to you Cowboy. I don’t mind helping with typi
ng and editing. Actually, I’m pretty good with that part. Maybe make a few suggestions here and there. But, I’m no book writer.”
“Well I don’t have time for it Lori. Maybe someday, we can pen our memoirs. After we get paid for this assignment. Which, by the way, could be quiet some months at the very least. It looks like I’m going to still be taking on assignments for a while yet. We’ll start with whatever it is that Al has going on over in Houston, and just keep going from there, until we get our government payday.”
“Then what cowboy? What do you want to do when you become a multimillionaire?”
“Buy a ranch, raise some cows, maybe dabble with horses, plant a few cash crops, hire some help, take long vacations, and hunting-fishing trips at the tree house, and keep doing very special assignments that I hand pick.”
“You got the work in your blood bad Cowboy?”
“You know I do Lori, what about you? Has the bug bitten you yet?”
“Either that or I’m just an adrenalin junky! Actually, I’m glad to hear you say that you’d still take a few handpicked assignments, as long as you’ll promise to let me tag alone.”
“You’re half my brain now Lori. I’m not sure that I would function in that world now without you.”
“Awe that’s sweet of you to say that Cowboy! You get two gold stars for that!”
Pulling off the highway and back on to the gravel, sand, and dirt road, that spider webs with a dozen others, down through the swamp and out on the bijou, I can always feel the cultural change, as well as the change in landscape. I was having mixed feelings about potentially leaving this culture behind, and moving westward to a ranch setting.
A ranch had been a dream for me, ever since I had left Oklahoma, but being back here, after having been gone for just over six months, made me realize how much I had come to love this place. There would be plenty of time later to make that decision. Right now, I had, as the saying goes, bigger fish to fry. Ten minutes later we pulled into the small clearing beside the house.
As we climbed out of the truck, Lori took a deep breath through her nose and then commented, “This place does smell like home! I can’t figure it Cowboy! But it does!”
I took in a deep breath through my nose and said, “Yes it does! It also smells like Rosita’s moqueca de camarons! C’mon, let’s get your file boxes upstairs!” When we entered the house, I heard Rosita begin setting the table, so I called out to her, “Rosita! Por favor, preparar tres placas. Queremos que usted con nosotros para la cena, por favor!”
Rosita called out back to me, “¡Sí! ¡Seré feliz a usted y la señorita bonita!”
“She thinks you’re pretty.”, I teased Lori.
“I think she’s pretty too! Don’t you?”, she replied, raising an eyebrow and smiling at me.”
“We have boxes to bring up Rosita.”, I called out again. Then turning to Lori, I said, “We can stack these in the den, and pull what we need to work with, a little at the time. My office is too small for all of these boxes.” When we had started back down the stairs to get more boxes, I continued.
“Actually, being totally honest with you Lori, I think that her body is as hot as sack full of habaneros, she has a beautiful face, and a damn sweet personality! But, her total package still doesn’t hold a candle to your total package. You see, I have resisted her, on principle only, for more or less two years. I couldn’t resist you for even two days. Remember?”
“Mmmm. I’ll never forget!”, Lori replied seductively.
“Yeah me either!”, I replied. But anyway, I think she likes you better than me.”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s the case at all.”, Lori countered. “I think she likes me alright, but not like she lusts after you. I’m a bit suspicious that even though she likes me, that she also sees me, as a way to get with you.”
“You mean like a benefit, that comes with an extra benefit?”
“Lori looked confused. I suppose you could call it that way. Now, can we please go eat, before Rosita’s meal gets cold?”
Just then Rosita called out again, as we came back in the door, Señor Tagg! Rosita is ready for you to eat!” Lori and I looked at each other, and we both snickered.
“You may be right!”, I said raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I’m right alright!”, she giggled, as we headed to the kitchen. “I’m almost positive that I’m right!”
Chapter Six
Two’s Company, Three’s a Party!
A prepared mind is a satisfied mind.
As usual, Rosita’s moqueca de camarons was totally delectable, even the cook in Lori was impressed. She was also impressed with the dress that Rosita had chosen to wear to dinner. It was cut just above the knee, and a deep, solid red, color. I have no idea what kind of fabric it was, but it clung to her figure like paint. She wore it slightly off shoulder, and the deep, plunging, rectangular, cut out over her chest, framed and showcased, her ample cleavage in an impressive way.
She wore nude hose, and a simple pair of black heels. She had pinned her long, black, ringlets of hair up, as she always did when she cooked. As a total package, her appearance was completely sizzling! She was no Lori, but she was running a close second. I had never before seen her dressed in anything but her house keeper’s uniform and sneakers. I was doubly impressed by this look, and deeply aroused.
I remember thinking that if she had dressed like this, at any point over the last two years, that I probably couldn’t have lived up to my employer-employee policy. After our late lunch was finished, Lori lavished complements on Rosita, over the food, her dress, and the overall look that she presented, Rosita offered an explanation of the dress.
“I have look at this dress for one month. Every day I go see it is there. This morning, it is, how you say, discont?”
“Discounted?”, Lori offered.
“¡Sí! Discounted! Gracias, señorita Lori.”
“Please call me Lori.”
“Lori! ¡Sí!”, Rosita said, giving Lori a large smile. “As you say, anyway? Then I think I buy it, and see shoes and hose.”, she said, pointing to her shapely, stocking encased, legs. So, I get it all! Today, you are here, and we have nice dinner, and I think, I wear this! Special time? Okeysha? Special Okeysha?” Rosita looked to Lori again for help.
“Occasion?”, Lori suggested.
“¡Sí! Lori! You save me!”, she said reaching across the table, squeezing Lori’s hand. Slowly releasing Lori’s hand, she continued, “Special occasion! To honor Lori and celebrate, Tagg no es un amante del pene!” Rosita looked at me and said, “I am sorry Tagg.” Then looking at Lori, she explained, “I am nice looking, sí?”
“Yes! You are a gorgeous, and very sensual woman, Rosita.”, Lori replied.
“I say nice things to Tagg, I show legs! I rub him here, real nice.”, she said pointing to her shoulders. “Two years! ¡Nada! Good food! Tagg come here, how you say? Empty hands? No! No hay senoritas en su cama.”
“¡Ninguno!”, Lori exclaimed.
“¡Ninguno!”, Rosita replied.
“Cowboy, you’ve had an empty bed for two years?”, Lori asked. “And, you resisted this for two years, because of your policy? “, she commented, waving her hand toward Rosita. “No wonder she thought you were gay!”, Lori laughed, and turned to Rosita, “No, my lovely, he’s definitely not gay! Tagg, no le gusta pene. And there’s definitely nothing wrong with you!”
“I always made sure that my affairs stayed just that, my affairs.”, I explained, somewhat exasperated. “I only brought home a date when I knew no one would be here or coming here. And you know Lori, exactly why I haven’t succumbed to Rosita’s overtures.” I slapped the table with my hand., and slouched in my chair. “This is nuts! Everything is either confusing, or mixed up, or difficult, or complicated.”
Lori reached across the table and took my hand in her left, and reached to her right and took Rosita’s hand. It’s time for us to all have an honest talk together. ¡Hablamos la verdad ahora!”
“
I always speak truth!”, Rosita spoke up, with a little indignation in her voice.
“Ah! I apologize! It is time to uncover, reveal, tell of secrets.”, Lori said.
Rosita seemed to calm some, “Rosita has secrets. Is true.”
“Rosita, Tagg, my Cowboy, and I just came from Texas, where we had a talk about secret feelings, secret thoughts, and secret desires.”, Lori explained. “And it has made understanding about each other very good! Now, I would like for you, and Tagg, and myself to have a talk about our secret thoughts, and secret feelings. Then, we can all understand, about each other. Would you like that?”
“Sí, Lori. We all share? You share. Tagg share. I share?”, Rosita asked, pointing at each of us, and then herself.
“Sí. Yes.”, answered Lori.
Rosita looked at me with squinting eyes, but speaking to Lori, said, “Is good. We share.”
“Rosita.”, Lori began again, still holding our hands. “Do you know why Tagg has kept away from you?”
“Do you know Lori?”, Rosita asked?
“Yes. Sí. Because he has a policy, política, to not have a relationship with employees.
“Yo no soy un empleado.”, Rosita blurted. “Soy autónomo, y Tagg es uno de mis clientes. Mi otros cutomer es la viuda de Donovan.”, She spoke in such a rapid fashion that I could scarcely understand her. “I am sorry. I promise. Rosita will speak English and try for you to understand.
“It’s okay, Rosita.”, I said. “Are you saying that you are independent, and I am one of your clients?”
“Sí. Yes, Tagg. The widow Donovan is my other client for my business. I also have business of making silk Spanish lace. Three colors! I make white for the brides. I make black for the widows, and also those that wish for sexy in the bed. And I make red, to make hot sex in the bed. I make thirty-one thousand American dollars for silk lace business last year, and house business, maybe twenty-eight thousand American dollars. I invest in stock market, send money back to family in Venezuela, and send American IRS what they ask. I am good United States of America citizen. I am not employee! I wish to be of service to my client. I wish to be your friend. I admit, I wish to be your lover! I do not wish to be employee.”