by Amy DeMeritt
We strip down to our bikinis and Shannon and Sam spread sunblock all over their bodies – helping each other with their faces and backs. I grab the towels and we lay them out on the deck to lay out together on our stomachs. Aura lays down stretched out in front of us and we reach out to pet her.
“Are you happy with your boat, baby?” Shannon smiles really big and leans over Madison to kiss me. “Yes, I love my boat. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. The money was just as much yours and our wives as it was mine. I wish we’d be able to use it more often though. What’s the weight limit on this? Will we be able to bring the entire squad out on the water with us in August when we have that event in San Francisco?”
“Yes, we’ll be able to bring them. Do you think we’ll be able to come out again before we leave town?”
“Yeah, of course. I only have a week left of filming, but we’ll be here for at least two more weeks. We have that big party we have to go to a few days after we finish the movie. Then Julia and I also have several magazine and TV interviews we have to do.”
“Sara and Keira will be here in a few days so Sara can go with you to that meeting about the second movie. We have a feeling the entire squad is coming. Sara asked us to update the websites with extended shipping dates for that week and to cancel work hours at the house for that week.”
“Really? That will be awesome! I miss all of them.”
“We miss them too, puppy.”
“I feel like dancing.” My wives’ smiles widen and they stand up, pulling me up with them. “I need to put my shorts back on.” They laugh and shake their heads. “You are not putting your shorts on. We like seeing you in your bikini.”
I pout, but they just smile and kiss my lips and cheeks. Sam puts some music on and my adrenaline starts pumping. She leans into me with a beautiful smile, placing her hands on the top of my chest.
“Make us your puppets, baby.”
I smile really big and grab her hips. The song she picked is a medium tempo pop song, which is good when I want to puppet all of them at once. Fast songs are harder to puppet so many of them to, but that doesn’t stop us from trying.
We get into a really good rhythm with them dancing around me, against me, and against each other, with all of them following the subtle instructions of my hands and body. After several medium tempo songs, a romantic slow song comes on. I guide them into a beautiful twisting and twirling ball of mostly bare skin, smiles, and soft silky hair – ranging from bright golden blonde to nearly black.
As the song starts to wind down, I pull my wives into me, and they wrap their arms around me. One by one, I give each of them a passionate kiss.
“That was fun. We haven’t done this in a while.” I kiss Sam’s smiling lips and run my fingers through her golden blonde hair. “I love dancing with all of you. I wish we had more time for moments like this.”
“We’ll have more time again when you’re done filming the movie.”
My wives kiss my lips and lead me back over to our towels to lay back down. It’s a really beautiful day. The sky is cloudless, and there’s a really nice cool salty breeze that feels good against my skin. The sun is hot, but the breeze is enough to make the ninety-degree temperature less uncomfortable.
A hand glides up the back of my thigh and over my ass, squeezing my cheek firmly. I smile and slowly open my eyes. Shannon is lying next to me with her beautiful green eyes watching me and a cute smile curling her lips.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Hey, that’s my line.” Shannon’s smile widens and she caresses my cheek. “I had to borrow it.”
“Come here.”
I pucker my lips and Shannon leans in to give me a kiss. After releasing me with a gentle nip of my bottom lip, she lays back down only a few inches away this time.
“So, now that you have a big fancy yacht, is there any place you’d like to take it? Maybe across the seas or something?” Shannon laughs and sits up on an elbow, looking around at her boat. “It could be fun to take it further up the coast one day. Maybe go to Oregon or Washington. It would probably take us about a week one way to do that, so we won’t have time for that for a while. I can do some research on some good places to dock for a nice day trip to San Francisco when we’re here again in August.”
“Yeah, that will be fun. It will be cool to watch you showing off your sexy boat captain skills with the whole squad here.” Shannon laughs and lays back down to face me. “It feels really good to be on a boat again. I haven’t been on one in over three years. Well, except for the boat trips we did in Hawaii.”
“Wow, has it really been that long already since you’ve been home to Michigan?”
“Yeah. The last time I was home was just after I graduated college. So, about a year and half before I met you and Madison.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been kind of selfish with our travel plans. I didn’t…”
“It’s not your fault, sweetie. Our schedules have just been too hectic and Michigan wasn’t a priority. I’ve been able to see my family more since I’ve met you and your career took off than I did before that while I was in college.”
“We need to make that a priority and should try to get there this year or early next year.” Shannon lifts her head to look to her other side at Sam and kisses her. “Ok, we can try, but it’s really not a big deal. You should turn over. You look like you’re already burning.”
Sam groans and turns over onto her back.
“Why did I have to get my grandmother’s pale skin?” Shannon traces her fingers over Sam’s stomach, and says, “I like you skin. It’s beautiful and soft and you look pure and innocent. I know you’re not, but it’s beautiful.”
Sam laughs and leaps on top of Shannon, straddling her ass. She nibbles Shannon’s neck, making her laugh and squirm.
“Do you wish I was more behaved?” Shannon laughs as she rolls over to look up at Sam. “No, I like you just the way you are.”
“Do you think you would have liked me if we had met by chance and not through Kayla and Madison?”
“Yes, I would have still fallen madly in love with you.”
Sam smiles really big and bends down to kiss Shannon. As she releases Shannon’s bottom lip from her teeth, Sam presses her hips down into Shannon’s, grinding in a slow circle. Shannon glides her hands up Sam’s legs and grabs her hips, pulling her in harder against herself.
Aura starts growling and barking, making all of us quickly sit up and look around for the source of her agitation. About twenty yards away, there’s another boat with half a dozen men and women leaning against the guardrails of their boat with bottles of beer or wine glasses in their hands.
All of us stand up, wrapping our towels around ourselves. Aura stands right next to me, staring at the intruders with her hair standing up on her back and baring her fangs, releasing a low menacing growl. I place a hand on Aura’s head and she immediately stops growling and sits on her hindlegs, but she remains alert.
“Show’s over. You can keep moving.”
I call out to the gawkers, but they just smile and look between themselves. One of the women looks at least twenty years older than the rest of the group. The rest of them look like they are close in age to us, or maybe early thirties. The older woman leans forward and takes her sunglasses off.
“It’s funny how the best opportunities just float along next to us, waiting to be seen and grabbed. Lucky for us, we were paying attention enough to spot this one. I’m Gail Mayson and this,” she points to a girl standing next to her, “is Mia Chang. She’s an internationally acclaimed violinist and has performed under the direction of every modern day world-renowned conductor. I’m her agent and this is her support team. And you,” she points her sunglasses at me with a grin, “are Kayla Johann – the world’s current favorite dancer and entertainer.”
“It’s nice to meet you. These are my wives.” I motion to each of them, introducing them by name. “And this is our wolf, Aura. What op
portunity do you think you floated upon?”
“Can we board your vessel and talk?” I look at my wives and none of them seem bothered by it, so I shrug a shoulder. “Sure, but your alcohol needs to stay over there.”
My wives and I put our clothes back on, and when the sailboat is close enough and anchored, we lower a gangway from our deck to theirs so they can walk across. Each of them introduces themselves and shake our hands, before we lead them to sit on the nice padded chairs and sofas on the deck.
“Have you heard of Mia Chang?” I shake my head. “No, I’m sorry.” Her agent smiles and pats Mia’s leg encouragingly. “Have you heard of Lindsey Stirling?”
“Yes, I listen to a lot of her music.”
“The only difference between Mia and Lindsey is that Lindsey has collaborated with other artists to produce CD’s and goes on tour. Mia has stuck to traditional orchestra performances till now. In the music world, Mia is very well known and respected. We want her to be just as well known among the general public.”
“You do know that I’m not a musician, right?” Gail laughs a little and nods. “Yes, but you dance and your wives sing. I’m proposing a collaboration for a music video. We have the musicians, but we need vocals and some dancers.”
“Who’s producing this and when do you want to try to do this?” Gail’s confident smile falters some and she looks between her group before meeting my eyes again. “Mia is independent right now. We have a small budget and the two of you would be the producers.”
“Hang on.”
I pull my phone out and send Sara a text, asking if she’s available to do a video chat. While I wait, I do a search online for Mia Chang to see if what Gail is saying is true. The search results immediately prove her internationally acclaimed status, and there are tons of videos of her performing with orchestras and small classical workshops. I pull up a video of her performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra and my wives move in closer to watch it with me. Damn, she’s really good.
“Ok, my sister is my manager, so I’m going to have her join us for this. Come inside, and we’ll talk on video chat.”
We move into the main cabin, and I use the Bluetooth feature on the TV so everyone can see Sara instead of trying to see her on my phone’s screen. As she comes into focus, I make introductions and explain the proposal Gail has made. Sara smiles and starts walking through the house, collecting the rest of the squad. It’s really good seeing all of them.
“Keira and I have seen you perform – you’re very talented. We’re producing a major dance show in October at the Joyce Theatre in New York and I nearly have the deals signed to have the show at the Apollo and the New York City Center the same week. It’s basically a play told through dance and music. The title of the show is ‘A Love Affair in Paris’. I’m working on turning this into a touring production. So, next year, we may be performing this show in at least twelve cities for one to three nights per city. There are a few scenes that we need a violinist for. Before we discuss the music video, would you be interested in joining this project? This would be a paid job and we’d pay for most of your travel expenses.”
“That sounds intriguing. Do you have any other live musicians for the show?”
“We’ll have a pianist, but the rest of the music will be prerecorded that we’ve bought rights to use. The pianist is an acquaintance I’ve worked with before on other productions. Madison and Giz Anderson will be providing vocals for a few scenes.”
Mia sits forward more with a smile, looking between Sara and I. She toys at the corner of her bottom lip with her teeth for a moment and then looks at her agent, Gail.
“What do you think?” Gail smiles at Mia, and asks Sara, “Do you have a figure in mind for a nightly performance rate?”
“We’re spending more money than we’ll be making on the Joyce Theatre performance because of the initial purchases for equipment, scenery, and costumes. So, the rate for that performance will be lower than the others. We can pay one thousand for that night, and if we successfully secure the other locations and the tour, I’ll write a contract for a flexible rate of a minimum of two thousand dollars per nightly performance.”
“That’s pretty low for someone of Mia’s reputation in the classical community. She currently receives a minimum of five-thousand per nightly performance with large orchestras.”
Symone sits forward looking pissed off and stares straight at Gail.
“You just pitched an ‘opportunity’ to Kayla for her to basically pay for and produce a music video with her wives singing and Kayla dancing so you can piggyback on her celebrity status and reputation to be able to catapult Mia’s career. We have all worked our asses off to get where we are. You don’t just walk into this industry earning top rate, just because you’re talented. All of us have had to take jobs without pay or with little pay, just to increase our brand value. Two thousand-dollars per performance, when she’ll only be performing for about fifteen minutes total, is more than a fair rate to start off. Look, we are a family. Anyone we invite into our fold is taken care of and treated with respect. Don’t disrespect us by saying we’re not being fair. If our plans work out, and Mia joins the production, she’ll be compensated for her time and talents better than most performers for similar productions. Like Sara said, we’re taking a huge loss to do this first show. None of us are making any money on this show, but we’re paying our team a fair rate regardless. Depending on the venue and number of seats sold, the nightly rate we can pay may go up, but it won’t go down. Her contract will include possible bonuses for larger venues with a higher revenue.”
“I still think…” Mia holds up her hand and shakes her head, cutting Gail off. “Stop. This is an incredible offer and opportunity. This may not be the exact opportunity we were looking for, but I would be a fool to pass this up. We were only supposed to be out sailing to relax and brainstorm on how to go mainstream. We can’t beat an opportunity into the shape we want it to be – we have to grab onto it and ride it out.”
“I like your attitude.”
Symone smiles and sits back, allowing Sara to be front and center again. Sara smiles and runs her fingers through her short hair.
“We’re going to be in town in few days. I’ll have the contract written up by then and we can meet to discuss the rehearsal schedule. Now, before we get into the music video, I need to know what your expectations are. Do you only want to work with Kayla and her wives, or are you interested in working with the entire squad? Do you want to tell a story or just showcase the song with a singular dancer?”
“I would love to work with all of you, but we don’t have much money to dedicate to it, so I don’t think we’d be able to pay all of you.”
“I didn’t ask about money. I want to know how simple or complex you want this video to be.”
“I want it be great, but I don’t know how to do that. I write and play music. I don’t know how to create a show.”
“Then you need us to produce it. Do you have the song recorded so we can listen to it and start developing a plan?”
“I only have the music recorded, not the lyrics. I can give you the recordings and a copy of the lyrics.”
“Ok, have those ready for us when we get to meet again. I’ll write a contract for this as well and we can iron out all of the details when I’m in town. Looks like we’re going to get to put that beautiful sound studio to work that you just built, Kayla.”
“You have a sound studio?” Mia looks at me with a slack jaw and wide eyes. “We do. We just had it constructed before I had to come out to L.A. to film the movie.”
“So, you could record and produce CDs and MP3s?”
“We could, and if you ask my wives nicely, they may be willing to give you studio time and help you record and edit your songs. It’s their studio.”
My wives agree that if Mia signs the contracts to do these projects that she can use the sound studio when she’s in town for rehearsals. We talk a little longer about making plans to meet when S
ara is in town, and then exchange contact information with Mia and Gail.
After we disconnect the call with the squad, we use some tow ropes to tug Mia’s sailboat closer since it drifted some, then lay the gangway down for them to walk back over to their boat. Mia is smiling so big and keeps waving and shouting, “thank you”, as they sail away.
“Even out on the ocean, we can’t get away from people and just have a nice day to ourselves.”
“I think this was just a fluke and probably will never happen again. This is exciting though. I really like the idea of helping her produce her songs, and doing a collaboration with her. I’m not ready to have a full-blown singing career, but I like that Mia and Giz want to collaborate with us.” I smile and kiss Madison. “Me too. But if you guys help her, you need to be credited as producers. I think we should even do some videos of you working in the studio and recording the songs. We can finally start that music channel for all of you and we’ll post videos of the collaborations with Mia and Giz on there.”
“I like that idea.”
“Will Awenasa and I get to edit the videos?” Madison smiles really big and pulls Sam into a short kiss. “I’d like that. You’re both really good at the editing and I know you love doing it. Giz wants to work with all of us, so these aren’t just my videos.”
“I’m getting hungry. Are all of you ready for lunch?”
“Yeah, let’s go back in the cabin to eat.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The last time I felt this anxious and excited was two years ago, when I was finally going to get to see Awenasa after she told me about seven months prior that she was ready for a real relationship and to truly be my wife. I’m sitting on our front porch, waiting for a delivery van carrying a very important package – the sperm from my donor that I’ll use to try to impregnate Awenasa with our family’s first child. I’ve been out here for an hour, sitting, pacing, doing pushups, and dancing around – anxiously and impatiently waiting.