The Vacation Wife by David Stone (best selling autobiographies TXT) 📕

a bit of their history. We had a wide ranging discussion, if you know what I mean. It was clear what ‘joining them’ meant.”

“I see. Well, you’ve got the gist of it. It looks like we’re all here under peculiar circumstances.”

“I’ll drink to that,” I ordered us another round.

“You remember the conversation we had over lunch that day back home?”

“Like it was yesterday.”

“Meg and I met Gail and Emily in Europe.”

“Let me guess. It was in the sauna.”

“You remember well. Yes, they stayed at that same hotel I mentioned, the one in Austria. This was much later, of course, after Meg and I had been there a few times. It was a couple years ago.”

“And you made a connection. I get it. They’re both lovely women.” I imagined them naked in a sauna.

“It was Meg’s idea. She and Gail really hit it off. In fact, a little too well. Then Emily got involved. That evened things out.”

“As I said, they’re both lovely women. There’s no judgment here.”

“Right, no judgment.” Harold emptied his second bourbon and ordered us another round.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” I said. “How does it work?”

“With Emily and Gail? Meg pairs up with Gail. She’s not really into men at all. Emily, on the other hand, goes both ways.”

“So you’re with Emily. She’s very nice. Marci liked her too. We thought Gail was a little butch.”

Harold laughed. “That’s about right. She doesn’t mind if Emily is with a guy. If she went for another woman alone, she would combust.” He took a deep gulp of his bourbon before continuing. “Since we’re speaking more openly now, how does it work with Marci and Susan?”

“You remember Susan’s ‘underwear’ incident early this summer? I mentioned it during that lunch.”

“Of course I remember.”

“You could say it was the inciting incident. It blossomed from there.”

“I think I can fill in the blanks.”

“And I used to be with Marci. We lived together before I was with Susan, and they’ve always been good friends.”

“Very good friends I’d say.”

This whole time Chloe had been listening intently while making no show of pretending otherwise. The bourbon put me in a mood to tease her.

“Did you get that?” I asked, speaking to Chloe. “If you have any questions, just pipe up.” This barely registered, so I abandoned the irony and ordered two more drinks. This she did register.

“So,” I continued. “After the initial deed was done, Susan came up with the idea of her being our neighbor’s vacation wife, and Marci being mine. It turned out he’d just purchased a condo here, and I’d won the bid for the trip to Tulum, and here we are.”

“It all makes sense.”

“It’s funny how it all seems to fit now.”

“And you and Susan?”

“We’ve never been better.”

“That’s what I was trying to say but didn’t over that lunch. For us, it all began with Meg exposing herself naked to other men in the sauna, like Susan in her underwear with your neighbor. Meg discovered later she also liked women. That was quite a twist at the time. Gail was her first.”

“You’re right. The circumstances are very similar.” I wondered what he meant by “Gail was her first”. I was feeling the bourbon more than just a little and becoming very loose-tongued. “You could say our love-life has really blossomed. It seems Susan and I can’t leave each other alone.”

“Meg and I have never loved each other more.”

“It’s odd how that all works out.” A tap on my shoulder indicated the arrival of Marci.

“Hey, you two,” she said.

“Hi,” I said. “Drink?”

“Golly, how many have you had? You sound slurry. Sure.” I ordered a mojito, which meant Chloe had to scurry to the other end of the bar.

“What are you two talking about? It looked deep from over there.”

“Harold knows everything,” I said. Marci looked at Harold, smiled, then turned back to me.

“Everything?”

Harold laughed. “Well, enough, Mrs. Peterson. I have to say I admire Ryan’s taste in wives.”

Marci blushed and put an arm around me. I gave her a kiss to make it official.

“Meg kind of knows too. I think she figured it out when Susan never came down.”

I looked at our table. Meg was now holding Gail’s hand as they made moon-eyes at each other. Harold had followed my eyes.

“I should get back there.” He stood. “I guess we’ll being seeing each other around the hotel. Funny thing is, Gail and Emily will be gone overnight tomorrow. They booked a quick diving trip down to Belize. Meg hates open water. Maybe we could all have dinner.”

“You mean with Susan too?” Marci asked.

“Well, sure. If she wants to,” said Harold. “I suppose you’ll be telling her about all of this.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to me. We had no contingencies for being “outed” in this or any other way. And what exactly could we be outed as? Swingers? That didn’t fit. Having an open marriage? That didn’t not fit. I would have to give it more thought when I had less bourbon flowing through my systems.

I nodded and Harold left to join Meg, Emily and Gail. Marci sat on the stool Harold vacated. For reasons I would sort out later, I was glad things were out in the open between those of us present at the hotel. When I first saw Harold and Meg, I thought that was it. My “wife vacation” with Marci was over.

“Do you want to fill me in?” asked Marci. “I’m still a little in the dark here.”

“Harold and Meg met Gail and Emily in Europe. It turns out Meg likes women too.”

Marci glanced at the four of them, now appearing especially cozy.

“That sort of fits,” she said. “After you two left, Meg zoomed in on Gail, so I chatted with Emily.”

“Gail’s hot,” said Chloe, to no one in particular. I’d forgotten she was hovering.

“Chloe,” I said. “What’s your deal?”

“Boy, you really are drunk, aren’t you?” said Marci, surprised by my direct dialogue with the help.

“I work, I listen, I play,” said Chloe. “Why? You two want to play?”

“No,