"I do, too. We'll have to get together soon."
You won't find two more people who will sit in the same room with me. And you won't either, when you find out.
Laura's cheeks got warm with shame.
The waitress came to take the woman's order. Laura was groping to remember the woman's name.
It'll come to me.
"I'll have a cheeseburger," the woman said.
"Uh… I'll have a Manhattan."
She'll think it's just my second one.
As they ate and chatted, Laura relaxed a little.
The drinks help, she thought gratefully. This woman won't speak to me by next week. I'd better enjoy her company while she will. What's her name? Marie. Marie something.
Marie was talking Laura had missed half of it, but she didn't care. "… and I have to pick up a baby gift for one of my neighbors. So, would you like to go shopping with me? I'd love some company."
"Sure. That'll be fun." Laura hadn't had time to shop for months. It was always paper-marking, lesson-planning or house cleaning on the weekends. Lately, everything had been neglected for Bert. Anyway, she had nowhere to go. She didn't know where to go if she couldn't go home.
They left gaily. The woman was happy about her shopping expedition. Laura was a bit cheerful because of her three Manhattans.
The two women drove to the shopping center in Marie's car. She parked, and they walked into the city's finest department store, Trumbell's.
Laura's head was in a whirl from the drinks, the spring air, and the intoxicating smell of perfume in the store.
They sauntered slowly past the women's blouse section. Laura lingered, but decided to let Marie get her baby gift first before she shopped.
"Do you want to shop here?" Marie asked.
"Later. Let's get your present first."
"Good idea."
They walked toward the escalator, Marie jabbering about starting a new duplicate bridge group, when Laura stopped dead. Facing her in the aisle was Elaine! Bert's mother stood there glaring at her, with Laura's sister, Bet, at her side. Bet looked pale and accusing. Laura wanted to faint to get away from the impossible horror of it! She couldn't. Her knees were weak, but she stayed conscious and had to face her lover's mother.
"I've been calling you," Elaine snarled in controlled fury. "You filthy whore! Why did you have to choose a child to sleep with? Why? Doesn't my son have enough troubles without a sordid affair with an older woman? What can he possibly see in you? Twice his age! I'd have you arrested if I could! And I'm going to find out, believe me! There must be some law protecting youngsters from depraved whores like you!" Elaine was shrieking now, and Bet was crying.
Laura couldn't answer her. Her throat was dry, and her voice croaked. Anyway, what was there to say? Marie stood there, fascinated by the scene. She seemed to be enjoying it, but she looked a little puzzled because she wasn't exactly sure which son of Elaine's Laura was having the affair with.
Elaine ranted on. A small group of people congregated to listen.
It's probably making their day, Laura noted with horror. Everyone loves a victim.
"You're going to stay away from my child! Do you understand? No dirty slut is going to ruin his life! He has enough grief to live down! And if I hear that you're sexually molesting my boy, I'm going to report you to the authorities! There must be some way I can keep an old sex moron away from my child!"
Elaine looked and sounded hysterical. As she raised her hand to strike Laura, Bet pulled at her and stood in the way. "No! No! Don't hit her!" She pulled Elaine away.
"Will you forgive me, Bet?" croaked Laura, looking pleadingly into her sister's eyes. She ignored the hysterical mother.
"You make me sick!" answered Bet in disgust. She pulled her friend away, and led Elaine to a chair, where she wept hysterically.
The crowd of people had formed such a tight circle around them that Laura could hardly push through them. She left the gaping Marie and ran out of the store, crying and gasping for air.
Laura didn't know which was the worst, the public humiliation, or the private knowledge that she deserved it. She ran breathlessly, looking for a cab to take her to her car. She wasn't even sure where she had parked it, but she knew what neighborhood the restaurant was in. She stood there weeping for about fifteen minutes. When she finally got a cab, they drove to the restaurant and she got out. She paid the driver and stumbled around the block, finally finding her car.
I need a drink! I'd better go home for it or I'll never get there! I won't be able to drive!
All the way home Laura wept. She knew she couldn't give up Bert, but the pressures of a hysterical mother could be considerable.
Laura finally reached home, having a few close calls on the way. She was no longer drunk from the earlier drinks, but she couldn't keep her mind on the driving.
Laura threw off all her clothes and ran for a drink. She drank it greedily.
She phoned Bert at his house, desperately needing him and wanting to hear his voice. His mother wouldn't be home yet, so it was fairly safe.
If his father answers, I'll hang up.
No one answered. Weeping, Laura ran for the whiskey bottle.
I don't need the vermouth. Why do I have to be so fancy at a time like this?
Lance had come to greet her when she arrived home. Laura petted him and lay down next to him on the rug.
Maybe he can make me feel better, though I don't think anything can. Why am I so rotten? Why can't I be normal like other people?
Laura turned Lance over on his back so that she could see his prick and his balls. She began to lick the dog's cock. It had a funny, salty taste. As she licked it, it grew harder and bigger. She licked on, enjoying the taste and smell.
Laura opened her mouth and began to suck his dick, savoring the salty, gamy taste. In her excitement she sucked harder, smacking her lips and drooling over the dog's hairy body. He showed his ecstasy with low moaning growls and occasional shivers. Laura almost lost consciousness in her lust as she sucked and tasted his sticky dog juice.
The dog tensed and she knew what was going to happen. She sucked harder, licking the furry tip in a wild fervor. The dog began to rock, and hot, sticky jizz filled her mouth, salty and a little bitter.
She cramped with desire, and an orgasm swept over her, wave after wave of release carrying her into another world. She wept with relief.
Laura lapped away at the dog's prick, swallowing and sucking until the furry cock was limp and soft. The dog made soft, purring sounds.
She slept in exhaustion, the prick still in her mouth. She was unaware when the dog trotted away and slept nearby.
When Laura awoke, she hated to return to consciousness. It was better not to feel anything – not to know anything.
She reached again for the whiskey bottle, shivering with the cold. While she drank down a water glass full of liquors she ran to the bedroom, found a robe, and put it on. Laura returned to the bottle, which had been three-quarters full when she started.
The phone rang and she answered it dully, not even caring who it was. Her self-hatred overwhelmed her. It was a wrong number, and she hung up.
Laura saw her clothes strewn all over the living-room floor. She lay there on the rug, drinking, her head on her girdle, her foot on her brassiere, not wanting to live. She still felt something, and Laura could still relive the horror of Elaine's accusations. She could still hear the mother's hysteria over her child.
A child! Why do I have to fuck with a child?
Laura doggedly finished the bottle, heartburn and nausea overcoming her. The accusing voice was fading away. It was replaced by a dizzy blurring noise. The phone rang, but Laura couldn't hear it.
Lance came up to her and licked his unconscious mistress. But she wasn't able to play.
Chapter 7
The Rivals "Well, you're a fine mess!" Bert sounded scornful, but his eyes were worried. He pulled Laura off the floor and hugged her, recoiling from her whiskey odor.