She got up, bolding her head and earned the drink across the room to the great sliding doors and looked out at the patio and swimming pool. She saw her reflection in the glass door and she smiled ruefully. After that wild night at the McKern's they hadn't spoken to each other for days, each feeling the other guilty of betrayal.
Then, Leo and Mona had changed all that. They came around and explained the trap they had set. At their urging, Bob went to more parties at their house. Carol couldn't bring herself to go or admit that she loved what happened to her. Rather, she saw herself a victim of a monster plot in which she was humiliated and degraded. For awhile, they had separate rooms and Carol was thinking of getting a divorce. For a while, it seemed that Bob had changed so: he was hard and quick to make decisions. If she didn't respond to his advances, he cut them off and left.
It was two things that kept them together.
The first was the money and contacts Bob was making. Through knowing Mona and Leo, he had met plenty of big-time money. Somewhat bitterly, Carol had thought that work and character didn't mean that much anymore. It was all in who was sleeping with who, all in acts of depravity and lust.
The second thing was Leo. He came to the drive-in and locked the two of them in the tiny office and sat down to hear whatever was on her mind. She spilled her heart out and Leo listened. When she was finished, he grunted and said, "A lot of what you say is true, a lot false. Look, Bob can meet the people true, but if he hasn't got the ability, all the fucking in the world isn't going to get him ahead. He can offer your body around town and you could be a great red-hot lay, but if he didn't have the moxie or know how to take care of a client's insurance needs, he wouldn't get their business. Now, it's up to you. You can have a great life or you can sit around and suffer and damn people for what they did to you." His rough fingers touched her knee. "Realty Carol," he said, his voice quiet and gentle, "You and Bob were such easy marks. Although neither of you could admit it, you both needed to be seduced. You loved it but you still can't admit it because you've got some ancient notion that wives aren't supposed to act that way. Let me give you a piece of advice." He sat forward, his voice urgent. "You listen now because I don't usually give people advice. Act like a lady in the drawing room and like a whore in the bedroom. You'll never have any trouble with your man. Think about it. Also, think about this: we might not be as wrong as you are old-fashioned."
He had left with those words, leaving her alone to think and she was thinking now as she stared out at the pool and her reflection in the glass doors. She had certainly changed since those days and she imagined even further changes.
She turned, the drink in her hand, the same smile on her lips as Bob came from the bedroom, and shifted her weight all on one hip under the housecoat. Bob, his hair wet from a shower, a bathrobe on, took her drink from her hand and downed some saying, "Thanks, I needed that."
"Bob, I've been thinking," she said in a soft insinuating voice.
"I've been thinking too," he said, taking her in his arms.
Her housecoat slipped off one shoulder, revealing she was naked underneath. He looked down at her soft whiteness, at the hollow under her collarbone and the mound of flesh that begun at her breast. His hand slipped into her housecoat and he felt her nipple soft and warm.
"Yeah, I've been thinking too."
She laughed. "About the same thing all the time," she answered, noticing her voice was taking on a sexy, husky gin-whisper.
"What's on your mind, sweetheart?"
Her forefinger traced his lips out. "I've been thinking. Why couldn't we do what Leo and Mona did to us? I mean, their friends are great but… well, aren't you getting a little tired of the same old bodies? How about somebody new? Somebody who doesn't know?" She stood close to him, gently rubbing her hips against him and feeling his growing excitement under his bathrobe.
He smiled down at her. "Honey, I've been thinking the same thing. There's this couple. There's this wife I'm going to hire as a file clerk. Young, and Jesus, is she built!"
"Mmmmmmm. Why don't we talk about it in the bedroom? You can tell me all about her husband!"