Kate

by Dwight W. Hunter

Chapter18 - Rita Hooked Ted

  The following morning, Rita awoke to the smell of coffee seeping into her bedroom, turning onto her back she stretched her body to the fullest length muscles would allow, including flexing her toes to their limit. After relaxing, her thoughts drifted back to last night when she and Ted enjoyed the most intimate conversation a man and woman can share, the nakedness of their bodies and beliefs of their minds.

  Yesterday after lunch Rita returned Ted to the Cactus Copter office with the agreement they would meet at the Sands Motel at seven for dinner and retire to a room Rita would secure on her way home. Everything went as planned. They enjoyed a leisurely dinner with sufficient social lubricant to dissolve any shyness either may have harbored. Over drinks and during dinner they discussed in more detail the possibilities of a potential mutual relationship.

  Rita told Ted she understood his financial position and for him not to be concerned with paying for things she suggested, explaining she was not exactly overly wealthy, yet had no particular money problems while at the same time had no intentions of buying a man. Her desire was to enjoy life with the hopes of sharing future enjoyment with a man sufficiently secure in his own skin to accept her as an equal, allowing her intelligence and independence not to be abrogated, should these qualities pose a threat to his ego.

  She defined personal freedom as being free to engage in activities she found interesting yet reserving quantities of time for a shared relationship. Included in special activities were projects she and Nellie currently had underway, especially development of the rock pile land they flew over. She was open to including Ted in her new life, should he care to do so. They could do things when they felt an urge, without money being discussed. Ted could count on getting new and additional business not only from the rock pile project, but also from other sectors where Rita's influence reached.

  Ted listened with a mixture of mild shock and amazement. Most of everything he heard Rita say was analogous to him having stumbled over a magic bottle and loosed a genie in the form of Rita. He found himself sitting next to a very attractive lady, the kind he was never fortunate to attract during his younger years. She possessed an amazing mind with more disposable income than he could fully understand and in a business like manner she was offering him an opportunity to become her bed partner without him have done anything more than fly her and friend over a worthless looking piece of property.

  On several occasions he was forced to pull himself back to reality by setting his brain to work comprehending the things this woman was telling him. During her life she was exposed to the masochism of men and although she desired intimacy she wanted more than the mere physical aspects of a man. He heard her say she hungered for a man to treat her with respect and as an equal. She was searching for a companion willing to accept her intelligence while giving her tenderness, honesty, love and patience as she worked toward allowing herself to engage in a safe close relationship.

  The paramount problem facing him amounted to not becoming intimidated by her intelligence in exchange for giving her affection, acceptance and solid security of a man she could trust. This was going to be a new experience with untold potential beyond his past concept of sharing his life with a woman.

  Pulling herself out of bed and commencing her morning routine, Rita remained flabbergasted at her own behavior. Her actions were so out of character when viewed in retrospect from a few hours ago. Returning to the present she expressed her thoughts aloud.

  "I'm not one bit sorry for a single thing I said or did. It's time I turned over a new leaf in my life and if I scared Ted out of his boots that's his problem, at least it was a start." Entering the shower she continued to reminisce in detail about her evening with Ted. In examining her actions, she was surprised to discover a new form of joy arising from sharing her inner self-leading to the awakening of a new cluster of sensation she kept buried during her life.

  She found herself appreciating Ted for not rushing her and displaying his patience when he slowly coaxed their passion to unfold so wonderfully; allowing her to savor each building moment. Her body still tingled when reliving how his lips and tongue sought out the sensitive places of her body.

  Stepping from the shower she knew it was her turn to share her evening's experiences. Julie must have been up or at home long enough to have the coffee pot going. Drying herself she heard the unmistakable sound of Nellie's giggle mixed with Julie's muffled voice penetrating the walls alerting her to the fact her late night arrival was no longer a secret.

  "Oh well! I'll only have to bare my soul once instead of twice since Nellie is here; it will make the news all the more juicy if they have to wait awhile, after all it's not every morning I'm called upon to confess giving up my virtue, especially to Julie since she was unaware I had found a man to breath hard over."

  Walking into the living room Rita heard Julie and Nellie talking like a pair of magpie conspirators and drinking coffee around the breakfast table.

  "All right!" Rita announced. "You two had better be mindful of your talk; the subject of all this gossip is now present."

  "How do you like that?" Nellie asked. "She walks in here telling us to mind our tongues like she was once the head vestal virgin and overnight fell from her throne of chastity and still insisting on keeping the vulgar in their place. It's nice to see you're still able to walk without having to keep you legs apart this morning."

  "Listen to all the noise, will you?" Rita asked, jumping into the fray. "It wasn't very long ago when someone, whose presence I'll not mention, was making charges of jealousy, envy and covetousness, just to mention a few lesser sins. For your individual and collective information, last night I charged forth like a Valkyrie of old, brandishing my irresistible methods to devastating use, I successfully got myself laid. Does my confession satisfy your prying evil minds or must I draw naughty pictures on the wall to prove my long hidden talents have finally been put to use? Rita slowed for a second before continuing.

  Knowing you two rutters as I do, it would not surprise me if I'm soon to be subjected to inquisitional tortures unless I violate the sacred oath of lovers never to reveal our deepest secrets. You'll probably not be satisfied with anything less than my laying bare the buds of this young and delicate love affair, that my enjoy a life span amounting to less time than the setting of today's sun."

  "Spare me, oh spare me," Julie begged, waving her arms above her head before pouring Rita a cup of coffee. "If the bullshit gets any deeper in here I'll have to call in a backhoe to muck out the place. Well Rita, my sacrificial friend, don't just stand there with a stupid angelic look on your face; sit down and report your last night's adventures over a cup of life sustaining coffee."

  Rita accepted the coffee and began sharing her experience.

  "Actually there's not much more to tell. Ted and I had a wonderfully unhurried dinner at the Sands, went to our room and made slow, passionate, outstanding love. Ted proved himself a sweet, understanding and sensitive man. He is well versed in ways other than operating expensive eggbeaters. Our love feast was broken when he had to get up early to fly some customers out into the desert for reasons I choose not to remember. I got up at the same time and came home.

  The next thing I remember, I found myself savoring the smell of Julie's coffee a little while ago. For your further edification, we talked over the concept of having an ongoing relationship based on mutual independence in which each of us live separately and get together when needed and /or time permits. He's retired from the army, was married a couple of times, but was unable to make his marriages work because of his need to be alone and function independently. That concept fits me just fine, which further translates into, 'he'll continue to wash his own shorts and socks'. Are there any other pertinent questions? Oh yes! He sends his regards to Nellie. He wants her to know his hernia is recovering nicely, but his nerves are still in recovery."

  "Isn't that woman the soul of efficiency," exclaimed
Nellie. "Here I am all set to ask a bunch of soul wrenching questions and before I can get a word in, she beats me to the punch on every last one of them. I'm glad to hear Teddy Boy didn't tear anything worse than his pride for being caught sleeping on the job. My special brand of reveille probably woke him up and made him move faster than he has in years."

  "You do move with the speed of light, Rita, when it comes to reporting your evening's activities," Julie complimented. "You struck without warning, when I came home last night and found a note telling me you were with the love of your life and offering little hope of being home until tomorrow. You could've pushed me over with a feather.

  This sudden romance has to be of your doing, since I can't remember you allowing a man to push you at such blinding speed. Regardless of how it happened, without question you have not only turned a new leaf, you've opened a whole new book. I'm happy for you, Rita. I can't remember having seen you wearing such a soft smile. Ted must have drained you of all your alum."

  "Thank you Julie," Rita smiled. "I do feel happy this morning and speaking of being happy, Julie would you be so kind as to summon Sam to drop by? Nellie and I have a business opportunity which may be of interest to him, provided you're up to leaving him with some free time."

  Julie looked from Rita to Nellie wanting to trust them, but was not fully secure with their possible motives. She hesitated and quietly asked.

  "Do I have the permission to ask if I need a security clearance before being included in this secret project before I call him?"

  "No problem at all. Having shared my innermost bedtime stories with you, I see no reason to harbor business secrets. I recall Sam mentioning he always wanted to design houses able to blend in with the rocks and hills of the desert. It just so happens Nellie and I have access to a piece of property we are thinking about developing. Remembering Sam talking about his dream, I thought the plans Nellie and I are putting together may hold the fulfillment of his dreams. We want him to design the houses and do the ground layout for an eighty-acre rock pile and rattlesnake ranch out northwest of the Junction. I propose to call the project, 'RockPile Estates'."

  "The name does have sort of desert ring to it," Nellie nodded.

  "The name came to me in a sudden flash of illumination along with the concept for using the project to twist a certain set of balls I know." Rita said.