The Wager (7 page)

V
irginia Kelly found herself dressing more carefully than usual as she prepared to go to the first rehearsal for next month's Church Christmas Concert. She knew that Frank Simpson would be there accompanying the choir and she wanted to look her best.

"I don't know about Gloria's wager," Virginia mused. Some part of her mind still told her the bet was connected to the Devil but another part of her mind reminded her that the church could make good use of sixty thousand dollars. It also told her that it would be better for Frank if she was the one that managed to interest him rather than worldly woman like Honey Pratt or Gloria Gustafson. Some part of her mind whispered that Honey in particular, coming from New Orleans, and maybe even Gloria, with her Hollywood morals, might be into Bondage practices or something even worse.

"Frank would be safer with me," she decided.

"I had better wear something other than black," she told herself. "It's about time I left the clothes behind that tell the world I was a wife of a minister."

Virgie found herself ploughing through all three closets in her bedroom in her search for something appealing. She found herself forming a huge pile of navy blue, brown and black clothes for the local consignment shop. Finally she located a pastel pink suit with a very feminine, white linen blouse and threw them on.

"Thank goodness," Virgie gave a sigh of relief as she added a black pearl necklace and earings that had been one of the few luxury items of jewelry that her austere, minister husband had allowed her in a rare moment of indulgence.

Virgie realised that her mind was extremely fuzzy. "Why am I so excited," she asked herself, at seeing Frank again, even if it is in the context of the upcoming Christmas concert. A strange mixture of thoughts was going through her mind. A sudden burst of insight told her that the excitement was from the thought of talking to an attractive, music-minded person of the opposite sex but Virgie immediately repressed such a thing.

"Of course it's the wager," she told herself, "the church could really use the money. But Frank is so good looking and we have music in common. Maybe he is ready now for a new love."

Virgie emitted a deep sigh as she headed for the door as reality set in. "After all he is three years younger than I am. He's probably chasing women twenty years younger than I but I'll give it a try. The Church does need the organ."

Virgie's little Boston Bull Dog, Lazarus, barked with displeasure as his mistress reached the front door. Lazarus hated to be left behind.

"Tomorrow Laz. We'll walk in the morning." Virgie could hear Lazarus whine as she closed the door.

"Maybe tomorrow at the dog walking group I could manage to walk beside Frank and his Blue Healer, Mozart?" Virginia suddenly plotted. "I'll even ask him today if he wants to meet before the walk."

Frank Simpson was at the church early. He glanced around at the ladies already gathering for the choir practice as he sat down at the piano and set up his music on the stand.

Frank realised that he felt more alive now that the choir was meeting more often for the concert.

"I've been spending much too much time at home alone," he decided.

Frank knew that his wife's death from an undetected heart condition at sixty-five had caused him to go inward. But he was glad that he had spent the last eight years concentrating on nothing but his music. He had managed to compose many new classical and popular pieces that were being considered for publication by music publishers.

"Well, I do watch erotic videos quite often," Frank admitted to himself. "After all I made that vow when Angie died. That I'd never form another relationship with a woman again. That I'd never again risk the pain of losing someone I adored like I did Angie."

Frank rationalised that a man had to do something to satisfy his sexual urges.

"And besides, I find it extremely easy to compose original music scores after watching erotic videos."

"It's just that I'm sublimating my sexual urges," he rationalized, as at the same time he worried about the gradual increase in his erotic magazine subscriptions and video purchases over the years. Frank was a religious man and was not sure that God or his minister would approve of those activities.

"At least there's Mozart," Frank mused. "Thank heavens I bought the dog several days after Angie died. He's been such a great companion. If I didn't have him I probably wouldn't even get out for physical exercise at all."

Frank continued to wonder why he felt so much better. He had taken Mozart along the sea wall that morning with several of the men in the dog walking group and the blue in the ocean

and sky seemed far more intense than he had ever known it. He even noticed for the first time the patterns that the sunlight and the clouds made on the mountains in the distance.

"It's like I've come through to the light at the end of the tunnel," the organist realised.

Frank's musing came to an end as he spotted Virgie Kelly entering the Church Hall. Frank did a double take.

"She's looking years younger; it must be that pastel pink suit."

Frank inhaled deeply in astonishment and took a closer look at one of his old friends. Virgie's husband and he had been dear friends. For the first time Frank realised that Virginia Kelly, his friend's widow, was a generously endowed, classic beauty.

"It's her cheekbones," he thought. "Classic and she looks years younger than her age." Frank noticed an unexpected warm feeling shoot through his heart as Virgie spotted him at the piano and moved in his direction.

"My God! Frank censured himself as he realised he was staring at Virginia's generous endowment. "She must be a forty, double D, at least."

"Good evening Frank," the organist's body reacted to the warmth in her voice as Virgie addressed him.

"You look lovely, Virginia," Frank could not believe himself. "That suit and blouse suit you to a 'T'." A part of Frank's mind urged him to ask Virgie out.

"Why thank you, you look very handsome yourself in that sports coat."

Virgie started as she noticed the leader of the choir coming into the room. He was signalling that the choir practice was about to begin.

"Would you and Mozart like to walk with Lazarus and me

tomorrow morning?" Virgie forced herself to ask, thinking of the need for the church to replace its organ.

Frank found himself arguing internally with the side of his mind urging him to hit on Virginia.

"What about my vow?" he argued with himself. "But she's so voluptuous. And she's a widow. Surely God wouldn't mind if I spent some time with her. After all she is a devout Christian." Frank impulsively made a decision he worried about later.

"Why, thank you Virginia, I usually walk with some of the men but let's meet early then at 7:15 a.m. at the start of the dog walk."

Virginia nodded discreetly as choir members formed around them and both her and Frank felt strange sensations going through their bodies as they arranged to meet.

"Gloria's right," Virginia mused. "I feel twenty years younger. The secret of youth must be sex or at least romance. I wonder where this is all going to lead." She tried to think of what she could possibly wear in the morning. "A ny t h i ng but black," she decided.

As he got home, Frank ignored his dog Mozart trying to engage him in playing tug and went through his collection of sports jackets looking for something that would appeal to Virginia.

"What about my vow?" Frank argued with himself. "Heavens, I'm only going to talk with the woman in a public place."

"That green sports jacket," he decided. "With a turtleneck, and I'll ask her out for lunch." Frank stared at his large collection of suits and ties with distaste.

"I really do need to go through these clothes," he acknowledged. "Too much black, navy blue and Grey. And all these suits and ties. They're not even worn much anymore."

Frank vowed to donate many of the expensive clothes to charity.

"I'll visit the new men's store at the mall," he decided. "That store has male fashions that are up to date." He stared at his collection of Playboy magazines and took a good look at what the men were wearing.

"I wonder if by some miracle Virgie would be up to watching some of these videos," he wondered as he stared at his large collection in his bookcase. "Can't take a chance on that, yet," he decided. "She is very religious after all. Might have to warm her up slowly. What am I thinking? I'm just going to talk to her and maybe have lunch."

Late the next afternoon Frank found himself ignoring the scratching of his dog, Mozart, and the whining the dog was making when his owner did not come immediately to let him in as he normally did. He was too busy passionately embracing Virginia on the comfortable chesterfield in his den. He had brought Virgie to his home in the pretext of rehearsing one of the numbers him and Virgie were doing for the Christmas concert. Things had gone so well he had wound up giving the lovely lady a kiss on her lips and one thing had led to another. Feeling her readiness, he had taken a chance and shown Virgie one of his erotic videos. Seeing the video had turned both of them on and Frank tried to calm himself as he realised Virgie was starting to undo his belt and zipper.

"What if you get really fond of her and she dies?" some part of his mind questioned. Virgie felt under his boxer shorts and Frank did not care what the answer to the question was. He pulled Virgie on top of him and started to undo her blouse.

"What about a condom?" Virgie somehow managed to worry about transmittable sexual diseases.

"There's no need," he groaned as she moved even closer

against him. He removed her bra and then her skirt. "I haven't had sex since Angie's death. What about you?"

Frank listened as Virgie told him that she had not had sex of any kind since her husband's death. He seized her tenderly and inserted himself into her.

"What am I doing?" some part of his mind briefly questioned his action but fell silent as Virgie provided him with some expert vaginal stimulation.

"My God," he thought, gasping with excitement. "This beats erotic videos all to Hell."

By the time Mozart was finally let in the front door Frank was eminently happy that he had made the decision to let a woman back into his life. Virgie was all but glowing and Frank realised that both of them had released an astounding amount of sexual repression in just one session of intense love making.

"Tomorrow," he asked her as he walked her to her car. "We'll walk the dogs together again at the dog park.

"I'm sure God wouldn't mind," Virgie assured him. He kissed her soundly again as she was getting into the car not even caring whether God minded or not.

L
orne Brooks found himself staring at Monica Mason's impressive physical attributes as she sat next to him in the smoke-filled boxing arena. Monica was wearing a tight fitting top and her expensive, satin pants revealed her well-muscled torso and upper body. Male boxing fans were staring at her in appreciation as she egged on the favourite at the championship boxing match they were watching.

"No wonder Malcolm dates her," Lorne thought as he experienced considerable jealousy at his uncle's successful promiscuity. "It's like this with everything. Malcolm is always the one to get the women, the money, the business deals, and the admiration of the Board of Directors rather than me, and before me, my father."

Lorne's jealousy of his uncle got even more pronounced when he thought of his own father's early retirement.

"He could never compete successfully with Malcolm either," Lorne realised. "That's why he retired early."

He mused about the injustice of his side of the family always being given the short end of the business the brothers inherited from his grandfather. His anger rose as he went over in his mind his father's early retirement and decline in mental functioning to the point he had to be placed into a nursing home.

"Alzheimer's, the doctors said. The doctors gave his father

only a few more years of deteriorated living. More anger struck as Lorne realised that his father's continuing deterioration was destroying his mother.

"Alzheimer's is a genetic condition," Lorne thought. "Good chance that Malcolm is developing it too. I just have to find some evidence for the Board of Directors."

"So Monica?" minutes later Lorne decided to probe Malcolm's latest love about his relative as Round three ended and the fghter's trainers attempted to revive the rapidly exhausting boxers. "What's it like dating my uncle? He's more than half a lifetime older than you."

Lorne's voice was loud as he was speaking above the boxing commentator's voice. The commentator suddenly stopped speaking just as Lorne asked his question and boxing fans around Lorne nudged each other, pointed at the sexy lady Lorne was talking to, and eagerly waited for her answer.

"Actually Malcolm's been very good to me," Lorne didn't like Monica's answer at all but the boxing fans within hearing range became even more curious. They craned their necks toward Lorne and Monica.

More jealousy rose to the surface in Lorne's mind as Monica elaborated on her answer.

"Malcolm's the person that got me into the Montgomery agency. I'll always be grateful for that."

"What about his performance in bed?" Lorne demanded loudly, desperate to find something indicating Malcolm was showing his age.

Several of the boxing fans moved closer and two got up and stood at the end of Lorne's row pretending they were discussing something.

"Surely a man that old can't satisfy you sexually?"

There was almost a movement of rows of people down toward Monica.

"Actually, Malcolm's very good at it, " Monica testified to Lorne's increased discomfort and the delight of the boxing fans within hearing distance. "He's very experienced, you know. Know's all the moves. He's taught me a lot." Lorne choked and the boxing fans sighed. Round four started before Lorne could get Monica to be a little more explicit. Lorne was forced to wait for the end of the round before proceeding.

"Can the old boy hang on until you get satisfied?" he blurted a little too loudly at the same moment the announcer ceased his talking again. The people around Lorne waited anxiously for the answer. Monica hesitated. She seemed to be weighing the question carefully.

"Actually he holds up rather well. Older men do, you know, require more time to reach a climax. It works out quite well."

"What about frequency?" Lorne was getting more and more desperate.

People around him held their conversations back and anxiously awaited Monica's answer.

"He does use Viagra," Monica informed him. "He's always ready when I am. Frequency is not a problem."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen him take a small blue pill before he takes me to bed. Figure that's what he's using."

"At last," Lorne thought, oblivious to the nudges and stares of people all around him. Some of the elderly, male, boxing fans were now considering using Viagra themselves and their wives were wishing they would. "Something about Malcolm's health that could be used against him. Viagra. Perhaps Malcolm's blood flow was not as strong as it should be."

"Could be affecting his brain cells? I'll try and bribe someone in his Doctor's office," Lorne plotted. "Maybe I can obtain his medical records."

"Why are you asking me all these questions about Malcolm?" Monica demanded as Round five started.

"Just wondering why you were so attracted to him," Lorne answered, anxious not to blow his cover.

Lorne sighed as Round five gave him time to improvise questions about Monica rather than Malcolm to throw her off. Lorne felt jealousy rising strongly again as he went over both Linda's and Monica's answers to his questions. He realised that both women, even though they were quite different from each other, had one thing in common.

"They're both loyal to my uncle," he cursed under his breath. "Surely the man isn't worth their loyalty."

As Lorne stopped his luxury sedan in front of Monica's house he reached over to kiss her but Monica would have none of it.

"Malcolm wouldn't stand for that," she told him in no uncertain terms. "We have an agreement. I can date others but not have sex with them."

Monica's rejection resulted in Lorne becoming furious. Rage at Malcolm surged in Lorne's mind.

"A m I too young for you?" he asked sarcastically.

"Actually a little too old," she answered. "But thanks for taking me to the championship match. Enjoyed it a lot!"

Monica closed the car door and moved toward her residence. Lorne drove off in a fury with his car's tires smoking.