In Search of the Final Freedom: Chapter 26

In Search of the Final Freedom: An Erotic Socio-Political Novel:

BOOK TWO

Sexual Freedom, a Revolutionary Idea

Chapter 26

The Final Freedom Foundation

Tuesday morning, Cooper sat at his desk thinking that he had only been in his new office a week and a half and he felt cramped already. Its size would have been considered an insult to a secretary at his architecture firm. It was so small, by the time a desk, filing cabinet and bookshelf was in it, there was hardly room for his chair and two for students. It could be worse. The space set aside for his two graduate assistants was exactly the same size. He guessed they would work in shifts.

In practice they did in effect work in shifts as they both were scheduled to work twenty hours a week. Though Lilly Iverson was officially his assistant, Julio Maldonado was technically the community outreach officer for a grant to promote green design…. whatever that meant. In practice it meant that he was in the office a good bit with no obvious portfolio.

Lilly was very bright, she already had a master’s degree in art history from The University of Chicago, but she was down to earth in an almost ‘back to nature' sort of way; all the way to her freckled cheeks that never were besmirched by makeup.

Julio on the other hand was street-smart and worldly wise. Growing up on the streets of Rio in Brazil he’d learned the dark side of humanity the hard way, but had found his own optimism could overcome that past. He was not shy about the fact that he saw himself as the great Latin lover; well a flaming gay version of one at least.

Cooper had been told the architecture department at ASU was new and growing, but the culture would take some getting used to. He was considerably older than most of his colleagues who had very limited real world architecture experience. Now he found himself as both the new kid on the teaching block and at the same time, the most senior architectural design & construct veteran. His new boss, the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences made no pretense that he did not see Cooper as the likely candidate for a planned endowed chair of the architecture department. A young woman in her mid 30's, who now held the title of Program Coordinator, was almost a shoe-in for the job, though more than once he heard comments that the position should go to an experienced architect. It didn't really matter to Cooper one way or another. Most of his colleagues were impressed with his ongoing project for the Augusta Ballet, which was already getting some attention from the regional architectural community.

Cooper’s plans for the week included talking to peers about tests and projects for summer school, as well as lesson planning. Lilly and Julio were invaluable to his reintroduction to the unique world of university campuses.

Amy Douglass came by at 11:00. She brought with her Cooper's version of her new painting. Though it was much smaller than the final product, it was still large, and his space so cramped, Cooper had to go out into the hallway to get a look. Lilly, it seems knew all about Amy’s work, but did not until this moment know her new “boss” was a friend of the most celebrated and accomplished painter in the region.

When she pulled off the butcher paper that encased the 52” X 30” painting, to Cooper, it looked very nice, like some tropical greenery; not at all like the erotica he had expected.

While he examined the painting, Lilly introduced herself and declared herself a great admirer of Amy’s work.

From his puzzled face, Amy must have realized that Cooper did not see the image for what it was. “I’ll turn it this away for you.” She lifted it up so it was horizontal. “Now I’ll hold it here and you move down the hall”. Cooper and Lilly both moved down the hallway. At first it appeared no different, then, he saw it. Through her skill in visual manipulation, it suddenly became crystal clear. He could see the green/grey stone was himself, and the different greenery fused to become Bonnie. It was a painting of Bonnie on top of him almost doing the splits, her legs splayed across his body. One of her legs was parallel with his prone lower body, and the other leg went over his stone chest. From this distance it was very explicit and erotic. What had appeared to be a splinter of rock topped by thick moss, now was clearly a penis swallowed by labial lips.

Instantly he became aware his young female graduate assistant was seeing the same image. He didn’t know if he should act embarrassed or not. He certainly didn’t want to be accused of sexual harassment in his second week.

Amy asked “Can you see it now?”

From behind him he heard Julio say “Yes I see it.”

Amy with a slight smile said, “Cooper? Do you remember how I had you guys freeze in this position so I could sketch it?”

How could she not know of his discomfort? Damn her! She knew he was squirming with the two young people looking at the painting, yet she was taking her time; just rubbing it in. She had already roped him into being part of the committee to create a foundation about sexual openness after all, so he had to pretend this was casual. “Oh yea” Cooper nodded “In the greenhouse. I was really surprised that Bonnie was still limber enough to pull that off. She hadn’t done it in years. I guess all that yoga she has been talking about since the cruise made a difference.” Cooper was intensely aware of the look he was getting from Lilly.

“Don’t tell her I was surprised as well, but when she moved into that position, I knew I had my image right then” Amy said.

Cooper continued “How did I miss Bonnie’s face from up close? It’s so obvious now.”

Right beside him, Lilly said, “Once you see it for what it is, you can’t miss all the details.”

Lilly then broke in “Dr. Douglass, you are amazing.

“I just hope the art critics are as kind when they see the full-sized version.”

“Is this for the new exhibit you’re planning?” Lilly queried.

Amy asked “You know about that?”

“Oh yes. I learned about your work at University of Chicago when I was working on my masters in modern art history.”

“You learned about me at Chicago? I’m flattered" Amy said putting down the painting. “Really I am, you’ll have to come by my studio sometime. So you’re studying architecture with Cooper?”

“Yes, I am his graduate assistant. I’m hoping to design public spaces for art exhibits, kind-of art parks.”

“You’re fortunate to have Cooper as a mentor, he is amazing.”

“I guess until just now I have sorely underestimated the progressive nature of his vision” the graduate assistant agreed.

Amy looked over at Cooper “Don’t tell me she doesn’t know your association with our group?” Amy looked back to Lilly “Young lady if you believe in artistic and sexual progressivism, you will thank the heavens you were assigned to this guy. And make sure he keeps you apprised of what our group is doing.”

She put the wrapper back over the canvas. “It was nice to meet you” she said to Lilly, “and you” she nodded to Julio “but Associate-Professor Campbell and I have a meeting to attend.”

As they exited the building she asked again “So do you like it?”

“Damn, I was getting turned on just looking at it in the hallway” Cooper said truthfully.

”Too bad they have you working in a closet or I would have taken care of that” she said with a sly smile. “But I’m sure I’d get hurt if we tried it in there; Anyway we’ve got to meet Sean Shelby in about twenty minutes at the Masters Club” as she slid the five foot wide painting back into a box in her car’s back seat.

Once they both were in her car, she reached over and gripped his crotch, which held, as she expected, a semi-erect penis. Then letting go she said “Maybe we can find some time after lunch, I know just the right place.” Then she added “If Bonnie would be OK with that?”

That launched Cooper into a description of his wife’s little fling with the builders and how he’d recorded it with the security cameras. He was just getting to the end when she pulled into the golf themed casual restaurant. He began to wrap up with, “I had a committee meeting while she was still going. Fortunately, the meeting ended up being short, so I made it home in record time to find her, still naked by the pool, asleep. I even saw the builders next door, still working to wrap up. I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but I thought I could taste semen still in her mouth when we kissed. But when I went down on her it was no imagination, she still had more than just a taste of cum, all over down there.”

“So what did you do?” Amy asked.

“I licked up every bit of course, then fucked her right on the chaise lounge” Cooper said as the car came to a stop and Amy took the keys from the ignition.

“You did her in just the same place those guys had done her a little while before? How kinky!” Amy said as she opened her door.

Dr. Shelby had not yet arrived at the restaurant so after being escorted to their table Amy asked “How’d the video turn out?”

“Better than I’d hoped. The new HD security cameras are phenomenal. By splicing together footage from the four cameras, Bonnie and I made a forty-five-minute film that is better than any commercial porn. There was no sound so we put in music and Bonnie did a little narration to make the story work. Actually, she is at home working on it today. What I've seen so far is hands down the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Amy asked “You’ll have to show it to me some time. What does Bonnie think of it?”

Cooper smiled “OK, I have to be fully candid. I tried to do the editing, but I got nowhere. She basically did it all herself. And she is very proud of both her performance and her digital production work. What she doesn’t know is that I’m going to premiere it tomorrow. Some of her friends will be at our house in the afternoon to go skinny dipping and sun bathing. I'm thinking of putting it onto the DVR and set it to start up automatically so as to debut it just when her friends are there.”

“Oh, you’re bad” Amy hissed as they saw their other guest arrive.

Dr. Sean Shelby was the Chairman of the Sociology department at Augusta State. He was from Scotland and even ten years in Augusta had not lightened his brogue any. His books included one that Cooper had used as a source in his Salon paper. He had met Dr. Shelby during his hiring process, but this was the first time he’d met him in a social setting.

After some pleasantries, Amy brought out some documents and began what Cooper could tell was a well-rehearsed spiel. “The mission of the Final Freedom Foundation will be to de-stigmatize all forms of sexual expression. Though pro-sex in stance, it is not intended to become involved in sexual hot-button issues such as abortion; rather the goal is to bring out into the public sphere the sexuality that already exists in virtually every American’s life.”

Cooper and Sean just nodded.

She went on “We would like to publicize current research that shows that nearly all Americans above age eighteen are sexually active to one degree or another and that lifelong monogamy is almost a complete myth. We would like to support efforts to de-ghettoize, and de-criminalize depictions of nudity and sexuality in public spaces and on the public airwaves. I for one would like to hasten the day that we are free from the puritans and prudes on the right and the sex-negative feminist on the left to live out our sexual lives in the way we choose.”

Dr. Shelby raised his hand and said “OK, OK Amy, you’re preaching to the choir. What do you need of me?”

“Sorry, I get carried away. We have the paper work filled out to form a 501 C 3 non-profit corporation. The last thing we need is a full slate of board members to put on the application.” She slid a document over to him and pointed.

“If you can fill in this information and sign” then she slid a single piece of paper to Cooper and said “And this is a permission form for the Foundation to use your writings. Sean has already kindly given us this permission.”

Cooper completed both forms. He was feeling a bit out of his league.

As Dr. Shelby was finishing up Amy told Cooper, I need you to email me links to both of your articles so we can post them on our web site.”

“No problem, What else?”

“For now? Nothing until our first official meeting, that will be two weeks from tomorrow at 7:00 PM, that is the Wednesday before my show’s opening.”

“Where?”

Amy looked over to Dr. Shelby “If you can get us a meeting room we can meet at ASU, it’s fairly central to everyone. At this point all I’m asking is that you two join our board, nothing will happen until we meet.”

Then looking at Cooper “Oh, could I send an advance copy of your Salon article to all the new board members? It will be a good starting point for our meeting.”

Cooper said she could do so without hesitating, he knew that he would not have been considered for the appointment at Augusta State had Amy not brought his work to the attention of the dean. Over the next hour or so conversation then moved along from the lofty world of ideas to the lowly world of office gossip and politics: university style. For Cooper it was his first glimpse into the world in which he now worked and it was somewhat disappointing; but not wholly unexpected, to find pettiness and low motives in this seat of high ideals.

“Is there anything new with your exhibit in New York?” Dr. Shelby asked as he sipped on his after-meal coffee.

“A couple of things are going our way” she said “I have a commitment from the most amazing couple to let me use them as living art in a 3-D display. They responded to an ad I ran on a professional artist’s web site for model couples. For my purposes they are perfect because they are an average looking middle aged couple. No that’s not quite true. They are rather nice looking, but they still have the ‘couple next door’ look.” She looked right at Cooper, “Not unlike you and Bonnie.” Then she went on “In their pre-modeling interview, they told me they have been married for 21 years and have been ’mostly’ monogamous all that time. What got my attention was their claim that he could remain erect for hours with minimal stimulation. She said they often will watch an entire movie with him inside of her. I was skeptical when I started, but sure enough, almost two hours and a dozen full drawings later I had to tell them I was done, and they were still going, slow but steady.”

“I am working for a take on the 19th century tableau vivant. Much like those artists who were able to get away with full nudity in the Victorian era by presenting the models as classical figures in body paint on an elaborate set; I will be presenting images of actual sex in the same way. I have a group of grad students working on a set that will, more-or-less, look like the background in your painting. The base is a 4x8 plywood platform, with a detachable backdrop and a letter box foreground that is draped like a theater proscenium. The effect should be similar to a 19th century theater where the tableaus were presented. For my students it gives them nice hands-on experience with finding solutions to the challenges of theater set design. They have made the ground, rocks and tree trunks of fiberglass to ensure it makes it to New York intact. The floor is two feet from the ground and has a five-foot bench with a slope at one end for the models, all presented as natural rock formations.”

“I have also arranged for a well-known body artist to come to the university to teach a summer school session on body painting and blending models into backgrounds. While he is in Augusta, my model couple will come out for him to do a test run. We will try out a couple of looks and decide what works best. Then for the exhibit, the couple and the artist will come to New York for three days. The plan is that the window will have a curtain that will open for five minutes then close for five. Each time it opens, the couple will be in a new pose. My goal will be that the casual observer will not initially notice they are actually copulating.”

“That will be shocking even for New York standards” Dr. Shelby said.

“Yes. I certainly hope so. I’m really excited about that, but the biggest news is we will likely get a write up in the New Yorker. My agent called last week and said one of their reporters had been tipped off that this show would make a splash, and he wanted background info on all the artists.”

“The New Yorker? That will give you national attention” Dr. Shelby noted.

“And assure a fire storm back home, that’s why we want to get the foundation set up now. Use the publicity this will generate to build something permanent.”

“Why are you so sure it will create such conflict?” Cooper asked Amy.

“The subject matter is more overtly sexual than anything that has been in mainstream art since Robert Mapplethorpe caused a national uproar. And like Mapplethorpe I used some NEA funds, though indirectly. The grant to Central America used both ASU and federal money; NEA money.”

“Yea, a storm you’ll be having” Dr. Shelby agreed.

“And not just for me” Amy said. “The write up will likely reference Cooper’s Solon article and the fact that he and his wife posed for one of the best pieces in the exhibit. They asked for a photo of the painting I did of you two. I can only guess they plan to include it in the article. So you can expect questions here as well.”

“One of the best pieces?” Cooper queried.

Amy nodded, “Yes, the very best of mine.”

That made Cooper feel quite pleased.

Dr. Shelby looked over at Cooper “But you didn’t take any of the grant money did you?”

Cooper answered “No, I hadn’t even seen Amy for a couple of years until we bumped into each other at a party in the early spring.”

Amy laughed “And you bumped me hard for a good while if I recall correctly.”

Cooper did not know what to say in front of this important figure at the University.

Amy said “It’s all right Coop, Sean is no prude, if he weren’t so dull, I’d have done him long ago.” Then she looked at her watch “Damn, I didn’t realize it was so late.” She looked up at Sean “I was going to take Cooper to River Overlook Park past the stadium and introduce him to at least one place around here that people don’t make sex entirely private, but there is no way we have time now.”

With that she grabbed her purse and headed out followed by Cooper.

Once in Amy’s car he checked his cell. He had several calls from Bonnie. He pushed the speed dial. “Hey, you called three times, what’s up?”

“Nothing important. I was just checking on you.” Bonnie’s voice came over the phone.

"I've had a busy day. I'll tell you about it when I get home. I am in Amy’s car right now. She brought our painting. It's amazing."

“Thank her again for the opportunity to be part of her exhibit, and the painting. I’m looking forward to seeing it” Bonnie answered.

"Yes, I will. I think the picture will look great in the living room. So, we just finished lunch with one of the department chairs and we are heading back to the university."

“Did you guys have sex while you were out?” she asked.

"No. She’d planned us having some time together after the meeting, but it went long so we won’t today.”

Amy grabbed the phone, "Hi Bonnie. I really had planned on taking Cooper out to a nice park I know, perfect for a mid-day rendezvous. But Sean talked so long I don’t even have time to give your husband a decent blow job. Maybe next time, OK?”

Bonnie laughed. “Well, I can assure you he is not deprived. With me, my best friend from church and the young lady from the cruise; he is getting all he can handle.”

Amy laughed, “But it was not his depravation I was worried about. It was mine.” She pulled the car into the parking lot “Well I’ve got to go, Nice talking to you, and keep an eye out for more workmen” Amy said before handing the phone back to Cooper.

“Yea, she loved the story” he told his wife.

“No, that isn’t what got her in the mood in the first place. Like I said, she brought our painting and seeing my pants react to it got her ready to go.”

”OK. Love you, see you tonight.”

Once the phone was dead, Amy and Cooper talked more of the exhibit s they drove back to the university. She said “I’ll be going up the morning after the board meeting and won’t be back until the show closes.”

Cooper let her know of his plans. “I’ll be flying up that Saturday morning to be there for the opening. But I'll have to leave the next day. With teaching this summer school class I’m kind of tight for time.”

“I understand, I just appreciate you coming up” Amy said “And before I forget, don’t take it personally if I don’t have time for you when you’re there. I’m afraid I’ll be overwhelmed and so I’m apologizing in advance.”

Pulling her car next to his in the parking lot, she leaned over and gave him a deep kiss as her hand kneaded his crotch. Breaking the kiss she said “It kills me that we can’t knock heels, but I have to be at a meeting at USC in just over an hour.”

He began to open the door and she added “Next time for sure; even if we have to do it in that tiny office of yours.” Then she was off.

When Lilly saw Cooper back in their building, she gave him a funny smile and said “That is so cool you are involved with Dr. Douglass.” Then she seemed to realize the word “involved” had a double meaning and gave him a wondering look, but said no more. Cooper understood that Amy had opened up his private world more than he’d planned to. But, what was done was done. He hoped it wouldn’t be a problem later.

************

The new painting by Amy Douglass was given a prominent place of honor right in the Campbell’s family room, on the wall beside the study door. Bonnie went right out and bought a picture light to illuminate the painting. As Cooper had found earlier, anyone near the painting was too close to see the image for what it was; however by moving across the room and looking back, Bonnie found it magically transformed from a nature scene to an explicit scene of she and Cooper making love. She was very, very pleased with her new décor.

***

By Wednesday the rain had gone and it was clear and hot, Trish arrived at 10:30, followed shortly by Brandy, Lois, Ashely and Sherry. Bonnie busied herself with the duties of hostess. Bringing out towels, plastic wine glasses, ice and two bottles of a very nice Italian white Moscato; she was not at all surprised to find upon returning to the pool deck that all her friends had removed their tops. However, she was more than a little surprise that both Trish and Sherry had also removed their bottoms as well. Ashley seemed to wait to see what Bonnie would do. When Bonnie removed her bikini bottoms, so did she.

They spread sunscreen liberally, focusing on the whitest parts that normally did not see the sun. She had to tell Brandy that her new boobs did indeed look nice. For the tenth time Brandy told them about her trip to the doctor in St. Bart’s and how he did the implants using silicon, not saline, through her navel. This time she offered “Here feel’m they feel so real, just like before I had DJ.”

Bonnie had no compunction about touching another woman’s breasts. She cupped them and squeezed. “Nice, your right, not hard at all”

Sue Ann, Beth Ann and several others arrived over the next hour. Marcy was last because she worked that morning at the high school. When Brandy saw all of the younger women opt for full nudity, she too followed suit.

Well before Marcy arrived, the conversation quickly turned to Bonnie’s beach pictures from the web, which led to Bonnie taking them into Cooper’s study to show off the photos that decorated the room. There were more than a few surprised faces. Sherry smiled when she saw Bonnie had taken her advice and replaced the photos of her having sex. In their place were older nudes that Cooper had taken of her since before they were even married. That led to questions about each and every photo: when was it taken, where was it taken, weren’t you nervous and so on.

Once she’d answered the questions, Bonnie picked up a 12”x12” leather bound hardback book from Cooper’s desk. On its pebbled brown cover was stamped San Dinero in gold leaf. The book had arrived on Monday and she had been dying to show it off. The LeMarco’s had it made for Cooper & Bonnie as a “retirement” gift. It was a richly illustrated two-hundred page coffee table book chronicling their trip. The photos could only be described as lush and beautiful. Tina told her that the LeMarco’s had paid several thousand dollars to a professional to edit and clean up the raw digital files into art quality images filling the book’s pages. Though there were plenty of nude and explicit sexual photos, it was not a sex photo book, there were as many images of flowers, sunsets, beaches and the San Dinero as there were of the naked people. Additionally, many of those with nudity were underwater or nature photos with the human figures acting as accents, not the locus of attention.

Almost half of the pages had images filling most or all of each of the foot square glossy space. The rest of the pages had multiple smaller photos, explanatory texts, and quotes from people who went on the trip. There were three impressive two-page 12”x24” centerfold type photos. As impressive as the images had looked on her computer, they were so much more so in this book. Bonnie suspected that there had been a fairly liberal use of Photo Shop in the editing process, but she could not complain. Everything and everyone looked amazing, including her and Cooper. Though it was not mostly erotica, there were a more than a few large and small photos of explicit sex. Most, not all, featured her and/or Cooper sexually engaged with literally everyone. The only thing she noticed that was left out were the images of male-male sex.

Her friends were mesmerized and shocked by the book, as she knew they would be. The truth was she too was enthralled with it and had already spent several hours looking through the hundreds of photos. She was pleased her friends were gushing with praise. Three of the five said they hoped they too could someday have a trip & book like that. Marcy arrived when the group was half way through the book’s pages, Bonnie was very glad she’d shown her the guest room on Saturday and they had already had the talk about her going on a sex cruse. Even as they moved back outside the conversation was all about the photos. It did not take long before others began to tell their own stories. In the end, the whole afternoon was taken up with church women telling of past lovers and sexual indiscretions.

It was like a floodgate had been opened. These women began telling stories they had bottled up for years, because they had been afraid to tell even their closest friends. What Bonnie quickly realized, was that even in middle class homes, monogamy was essentially non-existent. She knew the Junior League snobs had their liaisons out of perceived class privilege, but the real truth she was discovering was most everyone has a secret sex life that does not conform to the phony social norm. Phony, because the norm was fucking around and pretending you don’t. She finally decided that day that what Cooper had been saying for over a year was right. All people needed was to be given permission to admit to the things they already were doing. What was needed was not a sexual revolution, but an outing of the already open sex lives of ordinary people.

About half of the stories the women told had taken place years before, but some were much more recent. No one was surprised at Sue Ann and Beth Ann told about lovers both past and present. The sisters were both very good-natured women with stocky builds, though Beth Ann was significantly taller than her 5' 2" younger sister. They were quite close and together they ran a home a couple of internet-based business that allowed them to make the Wednesday meetings. Both sisters would be politely called 'country' and less politely 'red neck.' They were avid country music fans and sounded more southern than most younger people. Beth Ann, at about 5" 6' and around 170 lbs., was more stocky than pudgy. Her appearance was dominated by her noticeably large breasts, she had once said them to be "38F." Sue Ann was more or less just a slightly smaller version of the same build. But she came across as more attractive, not necessarily because of her face or body, but because of how she presented herself and her upbeat personality. It didn't hurt that she had a flair for dressing to show off her assets. It was rare to see her without a good amount of cleavage showing. It was no wonder that before the internet business had become large enough to support her, she had made good money with direct sales to the dwindling number of locally owned small grocery stores.

Both sisters added to the conversation with short but lurid tales. Beth Ann, had married her high school sweetheart, then things went bad. Her years as a single young woman had been marked by casual sex and men moving in and out. She had been with Calvin for three years now and told the other women that she had been monogamous all that time. She also gave everyone the big news that she and Cal had applied for a marriage license. When asked about a date, she said they planned to just go down to the courthouse "sometime this month." Well that set off a round of excited congratulations and rapidly Brandy said she would sponsor a reception party since they didn't plan to.

Beth Ann's sister, Sue Ann, had been married a couple of times and had several other men live with her on and off for years. She said she struggled with long term relationships then she blushingly told the group that might be because she had not been monogamous even when she was married.

"Shoot me, I like to have variety in my sex life." That got everyone laughing. She followed up with “For me, the whole cat-and-mouse game that leads up to sex for the first time is one of my favorite parts; and so is the exploring a new man’s body. It’s sort of like the thrill of opening a Christmas present.” That got more laughs and a couple of comments from those who understood what she was saying. After that, she made a point to say she was dating a new guy, a deputy Sheriff and was not cheating on him...yet.

Bonnie was one who understood. “Before I met Cooper, I had sort of a reputation for that very thing. I really thought I’d outgrown it; yet, only very recently have I admitted to myself that I didn’t outgrow it, I merely suppressed it. So Sue Ann, even though I was monogamous for over twenty years, I’ll join you in that declaration: I too like variety in my sex life.”

Sherry clapped “Let’s hear it for honesty!” Several of the women also clapped and agreed.

Ashley Ericson-Webber was the only other mother of one of the Euro-Club girls who regularly came to the Wednesday women’s meeting. She told the group how much fun her daughter Rebecca and the other girls had on Saturday skinny dipping. She thanked Bonnie for drawing a firm line about taking phone pics while they did so. “I think it is utterly insane that a teenage girl can get prosecuted as an adult for distributing child pornography if she sends someone a topless photo of herself, but that is the reality. Bonnie made that really clear to the girls even while she let them swim naked and take photos that did all but show their nipples.”

Her comment sidetracked the stories for a bit before Ashley regaled the group with what she called "one of many fiery romances I had before I re-married." The most shocking story however was Marcy Marshal. Even Bonnie was taken aback when Marcy told their group the truth about what had happened last fall when they took in a student-teacher from Germany.

Bonnie and several other women knew that the young German had lived in their guest bedroom while spending the past school year teaching at Jefferson Davis High, where Marcy taught drama part-time. But no one had an inkling of the real story. Marcy began her narrative with, “We simply had never come into such close contact with anyone with such bohemian views. Mike and I have always considered ourselves very liberal. We had agreed, before applying to have an exchange student, that one of the main reasons to have a European woman stay in our home was to open ourselves and Sarah to new ideas.” Sarah, the group knew was her fifteen-year-old daughter, who was in the grade between Misty and Lamar, though she was just a little over six months older than Bonnie’s son. “We had been thinking new cultural and political values would be good for her given the narrowness of viewpoints in our community.”

Marcy told the group. “The second evening we suggested we all relax on the back deck in our hot tub. Sarah took Gerta to the hot tub while Mike and I cleaned up dinner. When we finished, I could tell something was up by the way Sarah was grinning like the Cheshire cat. After the fact, I realized I had noticed Gerta had no straps showing above the water but just assumed she was wearing a strapless top. We were in the tub talking for a good while, then the jets cycled off and the bubbles stopped, that’s when I, with a shock of shocks, saw that she was completely naked under the water. I know, I had read somewhere that Europeans didn’t wear swim suits in saunas and such, but I simply didn’t think to tell her we wore swim suits in our hot tub. She had sat right between Mike and Sarah, talking as casually as could be for all that time before I realized she was naked.”

Sherry asked “So did you take off your suit?”

“No way!” She paused before slowly saying “OK, I guess with you guys I can now say, not then. Once I realized she was naked I decided it was time for Mike and I to go back inside before she got out of the tub, I wasn’t’ sure how Mike would react. No, that’s not it, I was afraid I knew exactly how Mike would react.” Marcy used one finger to imitate a penis getting an erection. All the women laughed. “That night we talked it over and decided we would say nothing to Gerta. Her relaxed attitude to nudity was part of our experience as being hosts to a young European woman.”

“A couple of weeks later though, when Sarah wasn’t home Mike and I joined her a’ natural; but I’m getting ahead in the story” Marcy corrected herself. “A few nights after that first surprise. It was a Friday night and Mike, Sarah and I were home watching a movie on Netflix, I was wearing some old sweats and a tee shirt. Gerta was still dressed for work and she very politely asked about what was appropriate casual attire in our home. She told us how she had been instructed by the exchange agency to ask. She had been told some cultures were very formal even at home. We found this odd that while she hadn’t asked before getting naked with us, she now asked about lounge wear. I assured her we were not formal at home, we go for comfort not style in our house. She made a comment about how September in Georgia is hotter than high summer in Munich. I encouraged her to dress in any way that she feels comfortable. Again, I should have been more specific. When I came back into the living room, I found she had plopped down next to Sarah in nothing but a loose tank top and the sheerest thong panty imaginable.”

The church women laughed. Marcy nodded with a smile “Virtually nothing was hidden as she sat in full view of Mike and I; and she didn’t seem to be the least bit self-conscience about exposing herself like that. We didn’t want to act like some Bible thumper Baptists, so we said nothing. The next morning was a sunny Saturday. I had made a full breakfast for her first weekend with us, and since the weather was perfect, I decided to go all out and set up for us to eat on the deck. I knocked on her door and said breakfast was ready. She followed me wearing a tee-shirt that was longer than the waist-length tank she'd worn the night before. Around her waist she wore a belt, so I guessed she was wearing it as a mini-dress. I think most of you have seen our deck furniture, the table is glass. It took a little while, but the hem of the tee-shirt rode up. She had not worn panties at all. I could see her bare coochie right through the glass table. And of course, so could Mike.

Then with a grin Marcy added “But, I couldn’t complain because as soon as we finished breakfast, Mike practically dragged me to the bedroom and did me good. The fact is that Mike and I had been in a rut, and Gerta’s presence, even in that first week, had jump started us pretty good.”

“By October, if it were just Sarah and me at home, she sometimes didn’t even bother to wrap herself in a towel going to the hot tub. She would just toss it over her shoulder as she walked through the house naked. But it was a week or so before Halloween when things got really weird. I remember it distinctly; she had been standing in the kitchen for the longest time, wearing a cute camisole and panty outfit, talking to her boyfriend in Germany on her cell. If you recall it had stayed quite warm well into October last year, and by that time, we were all used to her, uh…casual…mode of dress around the house. It had gotten late, and Mike and I had gone upstairs. We had just begun making love. Mike was on top of me when she just opened our bedroom door and walked in on us. Mike was so shocked; it took him forever to roll off of me.

Gerta walked right up to the side of our bed and said she was lonely and wanted to know if she could join us. Without waiting for an answer, she pulled off her camisole, kicked off her panties and slid right in the bed and wraps an arm over me. The next thing I know she’s holding one of my breasts and kissing my neck.”

Even Bonnie was stunned by this revelation.

After several comments of “No!" from the other women, Marcy said “Yes, it happened just like that. But I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. Even at that moment I knew I had all but invited her to join me and Mike in bed. Not intentionally, but over the past weeks she and I had talked a lot and I guess I’d given her the wrong impression. I'd told her a good bit about how sexually active I had been with both men and women as a drama student when I was her age. What led to her asking to join us in bed was that I confessed something to her that I’d never told anyone before. I confided in her that I was not happy with my love life with Mike. I told her it had become too routine and that I very much missed the freedom to sleep with other people that I once had. I even admitted that even after Mike and I were engaged, I’d had sex with other people on several occasions. I don’t know why I did.” Then she laughed “I can’t believe I’m telling all of you about that.”

That generated a few more laughs.

“What I think really lead to what happened was that I admitted how, to break up the routine, more and more while Mike and I have sex, I fantasize I am doing it with people I know. Pointedly she asked me if I would take one of those people as a lover if the right circumstance presented. I had laughed and said only if Mike would agree. I didn’t mean that as a come on, but she must have taken it as one. I knew all that even as she lay down with me. When she pulled her body to mine and started kissing me in front of Mike, I knew I’d asked for it even if I hadn’t meant to.”

Though they had been talking about their sex lives for over an hour, this confession was still a huge one for the church women. Their rather quiet school teacher friend just told the group she was bisexual and had shared their exchange student with her husband in bed. How had such news avoided the gossip chain?

It was Brandy who said what several were doubtless thinking “She just came in your room and you had sex with her? Just that fast? Did she have sex with Mike too?”

“Well yea” Marcy said with a slight blush “Just like that. It was so surprising, but it was like there was no point at which I could tell her no.”

That got a few odd looks from her friends.

“I guess I said that wrong.” Marcy corrected “There was no point during the whole night, and it lasted for hours, that I wanted to say no. I had this little tiny voice saying to stop, but a great big loud voice was saying to go for it, go for it all.” She looked around at her stunned friends. "It has been so long since I felt anyone but Mike on top of me. And she was so tiny compared to him. And her kisses were so tender. With her on me like that I naturally pulled my knees up like she was a man. For a while we made out like she had a penis in me, that was great, but nothing compared to when she went to kissing me down below." Marcy gave a pregnant pause as if recalling the feeling of that first time Gerta went down on her.

"Once she'd made me climax, I couldn't hear that "no" voice at all. When I looked over after coming down from that first orgasm, Gerta was on top of Mike. I watched as she reached between her legs to guide him into her. The look on her face as he filled her was as good as anything that happened that night. Sure, I’d seen my friends screw when I was in college, but to see the joy in her response as she just sat there with Mike’s erection all the way in was like nothing I’d ever experienced. There wasn’t any jealousy. Quite the opposite. I loved that my wonderful husband could bring that kind of reaction to a woman that young was…uh…it was affirming. Not just that night, but as long as she was with us, I loved watching the motion of her hips as she got herself off on my husband’s penis. I’m so glad we live in the age of iPhones. I have several extended videos of it that I’m sure I’ll continue watching forever."

She paused again. Bonnie knew exactly what she was saying. She too loved to see a young woman making love to her husband. Of course, in her case it was Heather, but she was sure the experience was the same. She thought about saying something, but decided to wait till they were alone to share that.

“The next morning when we woke up Gerta was not in our bed. We both were ashamed. Not because we’d had a threesome, but because we were sure we had taken advantage of a guest in our house. But that lasted just until she caught us as we were about to leave for church. She kissed me, on the lips (with a little tongue) and thanked me for allowing her to join us in bed last night. So much for feeling we’d taken advantage of her. Almost immediately, she was sleeping with us two or three nights a week. Our sex life had never been better, not even when we were newlyweds. I mean Mike and I made love five and six nights a week, and on the nights she was with us it rarely lasted less than an hour.”

The group just sat stunned. Marcy then added in a low voice, “See, with three of us in the bed Mike could rest while Gerta and I kept going. And the best thing was that nearly every time, after his rest, Mike could get it back up before Gerta and I finished and the second time around, he could go on for the longest time.”

She grinned wide at her incredulous friends, her reticence had entirely disappeared and she continued with gusto. “I didn’t think it could get better but at Christmas time… her boyfriend from Germany flew-in.”

Bonnie now cut her off, “OK Marcy, don’t tell me you guys did a foursome!”

Marcy’s smile went ear to ear as she nodded. “See, by that time there was no question he would stay in her room. I, having convinced myself that Sarah knew nothing of our sexual activities with Gerta, sat Sarah down to explain why we would let Gerta’s boyfriend stay in the same room with her. I pointed out, that Europeans simply had different cultural norms and this was part of our education about a different way of living. Up until this point we simply couldn’t imagine that our little fifteen-year-old girl would even understand what was happening behind closed doors. Parents can convince themselves of the most ridiculous things.”

That got a round of agreement from the younger women.

“Sure, we knew what an impact Gerta was having on Sarah, or we thought we knew. Mike and I could not help but see that Sarah enjoyed having a big sister and she obviously looked up to Gerta and admired her free spirit. I mentioned it before, but I guess it fits here. Even before Mike and I started having sex with her, and then began going nude in the tub with her, Sarah had joined Gerta in going hot ­tubbing in the buff. I wasn’t aware of this till later. But in early November, when Mike was out golfing on a Saturday morning, I couldn’t force myself not to notice any more that my perpetually shy little Sarah had changed. She was sitting around talking to Gerta in a tee-shirt with no panties underneath, and she had, like Gerta, trimmed the top and shaved her vulva smooth. Though, looking back I know she had moved in stages from her pajamas to that point; but until that day I had chosen not to see it. That was the day I first acknowledged to myself that Sarah had for over a month embraced Gerta’s example and hot tubbed in the nude when I wasn’t with them. I had just chosen not to notice before.”

“With that said, by Christmas, Mike and I were going in the buff with Gerta, and so were Sarah and I, but not all four of us... not yet. So with all this going on we thought it didn’t seem a big deal letting this woman, who was only four years older than Sarah, to have her boyfriend sleep in her bed with our blessings.”

Marcy made a dramatic pause “and ladies, he was the sexiest hunk of man I have ever seen in my life. Blond hair, blue eyes, square jaw and he gave a new definition to the word buff. The best way I can describe him is a younger version of Eric the Viking from the show True Blood.”

That description got both laughs and lusty comments, but Bonnie pointed out “Well, it’s not hard to be younger than Eric the Viking vampire, he’s over a thousand years old.”

More laughs, then Marcy continued “That first night Mike and I listened to them make love through the wall for three solid hours. I never realized how our central air system brought sounds from the other rooms. I mean I'd heard Sarah's music for years, but never really thought about how that worked both ways. The third night we were all ready to listen to them again, it was two days before Christmas. Another admission, even the first night we’d talked about how amazing it would be to be with them while they went on like that so when Gerta again walked into our room, this time with Rolf in tow, we were quite ready for them.“

Rather than shock, she now got sympathetic agreement.

Continuing Marcy said, “Until that night I hadn’t had any penis in me but Mike’s since not long after I first started dating him. I wasn’t sure how Mike would react. I’ve never told most of you, but like I said earlier, before I met Mike, I wasn’t even close to being virginal. Mike has always known that before we got married eighteen years ago I slept around a lot. And I mean a LOT. Even in high school, we drama people prided ourselves in our casual attitude toward sex. Mike had only done it with a couple of girls, while I couldn't begin to name all the people with whom I'd had sex. In the past few years, as a kind of foreplay, he has been asking me to tell him details of my sexual activity before I met him. It always turns him on. But even in the months of us doing Gerta we had not talked seriously about me doing it with another man. I’d thought about it, a lot, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react.”

“So what did he do?” Sue Ann asked.

“He just flipped back the covers and invited them in. I had thought we’d reached the peak with Gerta, but once again, we had the most amazing night in years and years….no the most amazing night ever! I simply cannot tell you how the two of them made me feel, it is just indescribable. When the guys laid on the bed and Gerta and I were side by side, her riding Mike and me on Rolf was perhaps the highlight of the whole thing. There was something about watching Mike with Gerta while he watched me with Rolf. I’d never dreamed we would ever do such a thing; but it was…well special. The next morning, I was so tired I could hardly move; and I got a second performance the afternoon before he went back to Hamburg, but that time Mike wasn’t there; just Gerta, Rolf and me.”

Trish asked “Has Sarah ever gotten suspicious?”

Marcy grunted as she bit off her laughter “More than suspicious! I told you how she had started going nude to the hot tub when Mike wasn’t home. It was one of the days after Christmas, I had convinced Mike to go sale shopping with me. When we got back, I went out on the deck to find Sarah, Gerta and Rolf were all naked in the hot tub. I was shocked, mortified, embarrassed. I wanted to scream for her to get out, but how could I? They invited Mike and I to join them but I made up an excuse, there was no way I was going to sit naked next to my fifteen-year-old daughter and my two lovers! It was later that week that I drove Rolf to the airport in Atlanta. Of course Gerta and Sarah came too. On the way, in the back seat, Sarah was talking to Gerta and, as calm as could be, said that she would miss Rolf, but at least their sex wouldn’t keep her up every night. Well, I was shocked. She said it just like that 'their sex'. Naive me couldn’t believe she even really knew what that meant so I stupidly asked her to explain what she meant.”

Beth Ann interrupted “Bad Idea.”

Marcy agreed “You’re telling me. I guess till that moment I was really in my own world. Sarah had begun talking to Gerta about things she had never come to me about. So without blushing my little girl tells me ‘When they have sex it’s hard to sleep. It’s just too much of a turn on to ignore.’ This from my little girl!”

Bonnie agreed “Yea, it’s hard when they grow into young women.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad Gerta came, it pushed us way out of our comfort zone; at least for Mike and me. I think it happened at the perfect time for Sarah.” Marcy took a breath then continued. “So Gerta was there to act as a role model of sexuality for a modern young woman. I’m driving down the highway and it occurs to me that if she had been so in tuned to what Gerta and Rolf were doing, how could she not know what Mike and I were doing? Doing with Gerta and Rolf.”

“I need to add that since Gerta is from Germany, she thought it was plenty warm enough to lay out in the sun from early March. Yea, not like I would think that’s warm, but I guess that’s warm for her. And you can guess what she wore while laying out on our back deck for almost three months?”

Several voices said “Nothing.”

“Exactly, and by the time it really did warm up this past month she had been spending most of the weekends outside in the buff. Unless I turned the air-conditioning way down, she sometimes just stayed that way indoors and out when Mike was not home. And now you can also guess who followed suit.”

Several voices said “Sarah” in unison.

“You’ve got to understand. Just a year ago she refused to wear a bikini, embarrassed by her breasts, now she’s asking me if we can go to the nude beach like the Campbell’s did.”

Bonnie said “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Marcy waved it off “No, it’s not you who brought this on. It’s not really even Gerta, It’s Mike and I. We wanted to give our daughter a taste of a more liberal culture than we have here in Georgia. We could have stopped Sarah’s progression as she adopted Gerta’s ways, but we didn’t, so it’s our doing. Like I said, she just wasn’t ready to come to me, but she was ready to grow up. I thought just knowing about the birds and the bees was enough, well in today’s world it isn’t. Not only did they talk at length about the basics they even talked about things like giving good head.”

Beth Ann asked “How’d you find that out?”

“Last Tuesday, Gerta left. That, coupled with the scandal you caused with the nude pictures, has gotten Sara and I talking about things we never did before. The day Gerta left, she told me she has known about Gerta and Mike and I from the very first time we had sex with her.” she paused and threw up her hands “Like I said, our house offers little in the way of audio privacy. This new Sara of mine, blithely told me she has been listening to Mike and I make love for as long as she can remember. She said she knew the first time Gerta joined us. The very next day she had asked Gerta directly if she had sex with us. Gerta didn’t hesitate to confirm she had. Gerta had told her not to tell anyone knowing how dimly our school district would look on such a thing if anyone found out. I guess she also knows about the nights Gerta and Rolf slept in our room as well, but I think she knew I would have been embarrassed if she said it directly. I’m sure there is more to the story, but that is as far as we got.”

She paused but no one said a thing.

“So…… This past Saturday afternoon she asks me if I wanted to lay out with her while Mike watched the NASCAR race in the living room. Though she and Gerta had been doing it for over a month, it was my first time to join her sunbathing in my birthday suit. If I hadn’t known we would all be doing this today, I’m not sure I would have gotten up the nerve. I must say initially I was very uncomfortable, but after an hour or so I began to see why Gerta likes it so much.”

Bonnie offered “You can bring Sarah over here anytime you want. It’s not a beach, but I think this year our pool will pretty much be like a nudist club. Our lawyer said as long as you give us clear permission for her to be a nudist, it’s Kosher.”

Sue Ann jumped in “I for one am loving this” indicating the group nudity. “I would love to go to a nude beach.”

Ashley seconded, "Yea, I do too. Does that mean Rebecca and I can come over together as well?"

Bonnie didn't hesitate to say "Of course." Then Bonnie told the group about the parts of Saturday’s events that Ashley’s daughter had not seen. They all got a kick out of the boy's leaving semen in the kitchen. After she looked over to see if Trish wanted the rest told, Bonnie clued them in on what happened after the girls had gone in. Bonnie was a little surprised when Trish began to add to the story. “It was like Bonnie and Misty were carrying on a normal conversation while Cooper’s dick was still in me right in front of them. It was like ‘this can’t be real.’ Misty didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable about it. If that had been me and my parents…well I can’t even picture it in my mind.”

Several of the others agreed.

Then Bonnie went on, “Later Misty told me she thought it was funny. She wasn’t bothered at all. But after she left, we all went out to the pool and started up again…well Trish started up again. This time it was the boys who interrupted.”

There was a mix of laughter and “oh no!”

“Yes. Trish was giving Cooper a blowjob. Lamar and Byron were right on top of us before we knew they were there. You should have seen the look on her face when she realized her son was watching her give head.”

There was both consternation and laughter from the women.

“But Byron’s eyes were not on his mother, they were glued on me. You see he, by that time was standing right over me as I sat on one of our benches. I was watching Trish with one foot on the ground and one on the bench as I was diddling myself. Well, Byron hadn’t ever been right next to a naked woman before, and my thighs were splayed out and I thought his eyes were going to fall right out as he stared at my open labia on full display.”

That got some uproarious laughter.

“Understand he’d and Lamar had been spying on us for hours, but for him this was clearly different. Even when I got up, he just couldn’t look away. It was actually rather cute.”

“Cute for you” Trish said. “I was freaking out.”

More laughter.

“But once I settled down, I got with the program and chilled out fully naked, in full view of my son, for close to an hour. By the end it actually did seem normal.”

Bonnie finished the story by telling how the boys had watched out the window while Cooper did Trish from behind on the chaise lounge. After that, Sherry told the group her version of watching Bonnie, Cooper and Trish their first time together. “Doing all this, being so open with you all, after so long, is like coming back to life. My only regret is that I was afraid to start back on my own.”

Ashley asked Marcy “So are you guys looking for a new live in?”

Marcy answered “We don’t know what we want. I think we agree that we don’t want to go back to the way we were. We are talking about options and listening to you all today will give us more to talk about.” She looked over to Bonnie, “And not just about us. Sarah seems to want to be part of the discussions. The three of us have had several discussions about what you have been saying in youth group. Mike and I want to come over and have a talk with you guys about open marriage, perhaps with the kids there too. It's not like we don't already effectively have an open marriage, but we want to just talk some things through.”

“Of course, any time. I don't think I'm breaking her confidence to say so, but Sherry has far more experience in living in an open marriage than we do.”

Sherry nodded, "That is true but that does not mean I would be of any more help."

Much to Bonnie’s surprise, Lois quietly said “Marcy, I think I can help you sort this out. I wouldn’t want you to make the same mistakes I made.”

All eyes turned to Lois. Bonnie was sure she was not the only one to be surprised, though she was equally sure she was the only one to know what Lois meant.

Lois looked to Bonnie with wide eyes. Bonnie knew she needed to step in, but how? “I think Lois might need a moment to collect her thoughts. Perhaps she is the best example here of what Cooper keeps saying about the false morality that permeates our society. Many, likely most, people are doing a whole lot of sexual things that Puritan morality would consider sinful; yet, everyone pretends they adhere to the rules. That only reinforces those same destructive rules that few people actually abide by. In under two hours, we have shared more of our real lives than we have in the past ten years. Are we not pretty typical of people all over? If so, why were we all so scared to admit we do the same things everyone else does?”

She was getting some blank stares. Trish looked like she wanted to say something but just couldn’t. Ashley asked “So what does that mean?”

“It means that we act just like Margo LaCroix. We are publicly putting on one face while living a totally different life. For instance, how many of us had sex for the first time on our wedding night?”

Only Lois sheepishly raised her hand.

“That’s what I expected, one out of nine. And who here has only had sex with one man in their whole life?”

Not one woman raised a hand.

“What about two men. Who has only had sex with two men in their life?”

Again, Lois was the only one to raise her hand.

“So all but Lois has had sex with at least three men, I won’t go on, but I suspect I could double that number of sexual partners and get the same result.” Bonnie turned to Lois, “Thank you for your willingness to open yourself up.” To the others she went on “You see Lois, who alone among us first had sex on her wedding night, has had sex with another man since she’s been married.” Then back to Lois she asked “And would you mind taking a guess as to how many times you’ve had sex with that other man?”

Still quietly she said “I don’t know. Surely hundreds of times.”

Bonnie asked “Do you regret it?”

Lois shook her head “No, not anymore…thanks to you and Cooper.”

Bonnie knew it was time to let her tell the story.

Lois began hesitantly, but her telling got stronger as she went on. There was no doubt she had everyone’s attention. When she got to the part where she described her dying best friend asking if she would be her husband’s lover in her stead; tears appeared in more than one woman’s eyes.

“She said she wanted George not to suffer too much through her illness and afterward. She thought having sex would make him feel better but she wanted him to do it with me, not find some woman she didn’t know. Only then did she say that she was sure George and I had feelings for each other; but she was sure we would not have sex unless she explicitly told us that she wanted us to do it. So she did. She asked me right out, if when George got home from work, I would take him to their bedroom and make love to him.”

Sue Anne asked “Was she right? Did you want to do it with George?”

She nodded “Yea, I did. In caring for her over those months, we’d fallen in love, though we’d never even said it out loud, let alone acted on it. But yes, I did. Very much.”

Lois paused for a long time.

Brandy asked “So? What did you do?”

“At first I was in utter shock. Not only that she wanted me to have sex with George, but that she had already figured out that I wanted to. When I didn’t say yes, she asked if I should let John talk to her first. She thought he would be understanding, but I wasn’t so sure. In retrospect she was right and I was wrong. I should never have had sex with George without telling John, but I was afraid what he would say. Yes, he is now supportive and the three of us now sleep in the same bed; but that is after Cooper, and to a lesser extent Rev. McBride led him to this point. So, I did what she had first suggested. When George got home, I told him what she’d said, took him by the hand and led him to their bedroom. That was the first time we made love.”

Anne, as if it suddenly dawned on her what Lois was saying asked “Do you mean George Pataki? Is he your lover?”

Lois nodded.

Sherry with a smile asked “So, it has worked out and the three of you have sex together?”

Lois nodded again, then added “We do now, but it was a process. I almost destroyed my family by cutting John out.”

It was Sherry’s turn to nod “Yes, I’ve seen that happen too many times. I am happy it worked out for you.”

Brandy, with large eyes, asked “Are you saying Rev. McBride supports you having sex with another man?”

Lois quickly summarized how her covert affair with George developed from that first time and the disaster it caused. Then she explained how she and John had gone to Rev. McBride. “It took a couple of visits before I fully confessed how we had gotten to that point; but once I did, he asked us if we would be willing to work with Bonnie and Cooper as mentors to help us move forward. We didn’t understand why, and Bonnie says she really isn’t sure either; only that he had a sense of what they would conclude about Christianity, sex and marriage. Now, looking back I realize he did that to distance himself from what he was sure and what they would suggest we do. At the time I didn’t understand why he didn’t work with us himself. While he’s never directly said it is good that John, George and I now have a join relationship (which includes sex), he has said it indirectly quite clearly.”

That started a whole new conversation. Bonnie was careful not to make any firm statements as to what Rev. McBride had or had not said.

The conversation eventually came back to Bonnie and Cooper and how they had led Lois & John to accept that her relationship with George did not necessitate the end of their marriage, nor did it constitute a sinful, or anti-Christian lifestyle. Though she thought she’d explained it to these women before, she laid out the case the same way she had for the teenagers. She concluded by saying “We know there will be a great many people who prefer to live in the hall of mirrors where lies become truth and people have to lie constantly to keep up appearances. Cooper and I have simply decided that we aren’t going to live that way anymore. We will not pretend we live by 16th century Puritanical rules while we live a life of Christian liberation in love.”

Brandy shot back “But that’s just the way life is. We have to pretend to be things we are not and to believe things that we don’t."

Bonnie was getting a little worked up. Trish began to say “I guess this is a good time to tell...” Bonnie cut her off “But it doesn’t have to be. If we as a culture reject the false Puritanism then it loses its power over all of us.”

She could tell she was losing them. “How about this, last August, we had some vague talk about inviting the husbands and boyfriends for a clothing optional swim day. Let’s do it, and make it into a discussion group after lunch this Sunday.”

“You mean we will invite the men AND go naked?” Brandy asked.

“If that is what you all want” Bonnie answered.

“Good, that’s what I hoped you meant” Brandy said.

“I’m game” Trish said, “Even though I don’t have a man.”

Brandy shot back with a smile “Well yea, you have already had sex with Cooper a couple of times, so it’s not going to be something very new for you.”

That got some more laughs.

“I’ll bring Herb” Sherry said. “A month ago I wouldn’t have considered it, but in the past few weeks I’ve seen a side of him I didn’t know existed. I hope his heart can take it.”

Ashley said "I don't know about Chad. I know he likes showing me off to his friends in little bikinis, but I'll have to ask if he's up to me doing the Full Monty around the other husbands. As for him I know he'd love to watch but he won't get undressed."

Bonnie clarified, "Of course no one should feel compelled to get nude. You just need to be OK that others will be."

Ashley came back, "In that case we are in."

“I’m sure Cal won’t mind being surrounded by beautiful naked women either” Beth Ann said.

Marcy laughed “That’s us, beautiful naked women.”

Bonnie continued to the group and added, “And there are some women I’m sure would love to come on a Sunday but work so they can’t be with us on Wednesdays. I’m sure Butch and Tabatha would come, and I suspect Rhonda Jackson would come too. Of course, we are saying we will be including the men without asking them.”

“What man doesn’t want to see naked women?” Marcy mused.

Bonnie concurred “You are right. But some might not like the idea of other men seeing their wife naked. So like I said, make sure your guys know it will be an option for those who feel so inclined, to go nude.”

Brandy said "It might be optional for him, but he doesn't tell me how to dress."

Ashley asked “What about kids? Like you said, Rebecca has already gone naked here with her friends. Will they be invited?”

Bonnie said “I think it will be less stressful on everyone if the kids are not here the first time. I can see us doing family nude days as well as adult times. The big one's like Rebecca you can just leave at home, but let’s see if our young ones can go to Grandma’s or something that day.”

With that decided, Bonnie slipped into the water while Marcy and Sherry went in for more ice.

When they didn’t return after a few minutes Beth Ann went in looking for them.

“Trish” Bonnie said “I’m sorry, I cut you off a while back. What were you going to say?”

“No, no it’s OK”

“No, I want to hear” Bonnie said, truly feeling bad for cutting her off.

Just then Beth Ann came back out and called for her sister “You’ve got to see this”

That peaked other’s interest and in a matter of minutes, they had all followed Beth Ann into the house. When Bonnie finished her ten laps in the pool she realized she was alone.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked aloud. She climbed the steps and grabbed a towel to dry off before heading into the house. Opening the door she saw her friends, wearing their cover-ups or wrapped in towels. All eyes were glued to the big TV. Stepping in she turned to see what was on.

It was the video from Friday! The women were watching her taking both the Gibson brothers at once. She’d planned on telling the story and asking if anyone wanted to see the video. She’d not imagined the other women would take up that time telling stories of their own. “But how was the video on?” she asked herself. The answer was obvious “Cooper had turned it on remotely from his office.”

Sherry looked over to her “OK, you want to tell us about this?”

“It was on when we came in” Marcy said.

Bonnie tried her best to be calm. “I’m sorry, I’d planned to ask if you wanted to see it before I premiered my little movie. I didn’t want to offend anyone. But we got sidetracked talking out there and I didn’t get to it. I’m not sure why or how this happened. I’ll turn it off if any of you want me to.”

No one said to turn it off, rather several said things like “Oh we want to see it.” Or “You can’t just turn it off now.”

Bonnie took a deep breath. “This is somewhere in the middle. Let me start it over. I put a lot of work into making this little movie tell the story as it happened." She hoped she was hiding her alarm. She’d planned on doing some ground work to prepare her friends for this. "I spent way too much time on it to have it ruined by not being shown in the right order” She said as she walked to the DVR player and stopped the playback. Once she’d gotten over the shock, she realized that Cooper had used the fancy remote system to start the video after he’d called a little while ago. He’d asked about it, but she’d told him that she hadn’t gotten to it yet. Evidently, he’d decided to be helpful. “That ….that …. MAN!” she said out loud. In her heart she was vowing to kill Cooper. Her friends would see her film before she’d prepared them for it. Yes it was true that she had told Cooper that she wanted to show it, but was afraid of seeming like she was showing off.

“OK, girls. This is how it happened. Last week I asked Cooper to use our new security system to monitor me last week for a little fling. You noticed the new barn next door. Well, these are the men who built it. I guess I’d put off telling you about this little incident when we were talking outside.”

“You guess!?” Beth Ann exclaimed.

“I think I’ll need another glass of wine to watch this with all of you” Bonnie said. It took her a few minutes to have her new glass of wine and to briefly tell a little about what had happened on the days before the events they had just seen. By the time she’d told about how much work she’d put into it, she found herself positively excited about showing them the little movie. She pressed play and stepped to the back of the room.

Bonnie was quite pleased how they responded to the voice overs she’s made in the introduction. This would be the first time Bonnie had watched the entire video from start to finish and she was pleased how the stage had been set well before any sex had started. For the longest time no one said a word. It was only when she started to give Jake his poolside blowjob did Beth Anne say “You go Bonnie.”

Bonnie smiled and replied “There really isn’t anything in this video that you did not see in the picture book from the cruise.”

Apparently to herself Lois said quietly “But to see it like this right here is not the same.” She seemed surprised when other’s agreed, as if she hadn’t realized she’d said it out loud.

Only then did Brandy clarify “So this all happened just last Friday?”

“Yes. I spent several whole day’s combining the best shots from the four video feeds to make this.”

“It certainly looks like you had a professional camera crew. This is truly fantastic work” Sherry put in.

As the movie progressed more than one person made comments about how this new security system might have lots of uses and no less than four of the women asked if she and her husband/boyfriend could use their pool area to make their own movies.

***

The ten girls wearing their matching tee-shirts on Wednesday had more or less gone unnoticed until lunch. Even though Jeff Davis high had two different lunch periods, six of them sitting together with Misty finally caused their peers to notice. The bold statement on the back got them both good and bad responses, as was expected. They were relieved however, that no teachers had noticed and called them out.

By the time the Euro Club convened Thursday evening, it had turned cloudy and cool again. May in Georgia could be that way, hot one day and cool and damp the next evening. Sadly there was no sunning and they worked in the family room. They had over two hundred emails, this for a rising class of under three-hundred. All the responses were not the same thing as people saying they were coming.

As they began to work through the emails, they were surprised at how many people wrote to say they will not be able to attend, but not to forget them if there are later events in the summer. The reasons for not coming were usually family commitments for the week after school ended. There were a fair number of obscene emails from anonymous type accounts. Usually the obnoxious messages told one or several members how much they want to do them, often with faceless pics of their erect penises. The girls burst out laughing when Rebecca said “That’s Samuel” when they opened an attachment of a well-built guy with a blurred out head gripping an obscenely large and stiff tool. “Really, that’s him, I’d recognize his dick anywhere”. The email said “Only Rebecca is woman enough for this.” Misty looked hard “Yep, that’s Samuel. His dick is not a sight, or feeling, a girl easily forgets.”

The other girl’s heads swiveled to Rebecca and she, with pride, said “Yea, he’s such a stud I’ve had to get Misty to lend a hand on a couple of occasions.”

Misty added jokingly, “I lent more than a hand, and ended up sore the next day both times”.

Other emails were questions, such as “Does it cost anything?” to which they referred them to the web page that said “There is no fee, but a $5.00 per person donation would help offset our costs”

Or “What kinds of swim suits?” to which they replied “Take a look at our bikini’s on the web site, we’d love to see some guys in swimwear hotter than board shorts”

And quite a few “What is the prize for the guy’s swimsuit contest” to which they coyly replied “it’s a Euro Club secret special prize.”

It took two hours but they came up with a total of one-hundred-one people (including dates) who said they were coming. That was over twice as many as last year. So they would have to go back to their parents for money for more cups, drinks, pizza, and paper plates. Bonnie told the girls she would contact the church to borrow a few tables for food. Fortunately, the Campbell’s deck and yard were more than big enough for that many people. She also told them she would notify the Fishers to head off any complaints about the noise.

At school, even though it was finals week, the party was the talk of the class. Several guys were pestering club members for the prize and the judging rules. To which, once again, they referred them to the web page, which was extremely vague. Others, who had heard what the Euro Club was really about asked if they were going topless, to which they consistently said no. However, they qualified their response by saying things like “But I don’t have to take it off to show it off” which only built the excitement.