Quarters
(c) Copyright 1999 by Wiseguy
Susan found Karen in the kitchen, taking the plastic cover off a cold
cut platter. "Does this look okay?"
Karen pushed the meat aside and transferred her attention to her new
roommate. Susan had changed into a white T-shirt cropped to just above the
navel. A pair of denim shorts hung loosely around her hips. Instead of
panty hose and shoes she had opted for white anklet socks and plain white
sneakers. "That's fine," she answered. "I told you, this is a pretty
casual bunch. Nobody would have cared if you hadn't shaved your legs."
"What about the hair? Too dustmoppy?" Susan's hair hung straight
down from her head in neat layers that helped to round out her long, slim
face.
"Your hair is fine too," Karen assured her. "Relax, will you?"
"I'm trying to," Susan answered honestly. "I just want to make a good
impression. They are your friends, after all."
"Sure they are my friends. So are you, as of two days ago. This party
is for you, so I want you to be comfortable and to have a good time.
Remember, you live here now -- that means the onus is on them to impress
you, not the other way around."
"Okay." Susan didn't look entirely convinced, but she did seem to calm
down a little. "What else can I do to help?"
Karen looked at her watch. "Can you put out the munchies on the coffee
table while I change? Rita and Marco are coming straight from work, so
they could show up at any time now."
Karen slipped into the back bedroom of the 2-bedroom condo she was now
sharing with Susan. Trying to match the other girl's casual look, she
pulled on a cream colored ribbed tank and a comfortable pair of jeans. She
was deliberating on footwear when she heard the doorbell ring. Grabbing a
cassette tape from on top of the dresser, she stuffed it in her pocket and
hurried back to the living room to spare Susan the ordeal of meeting the
first guests alone.
Susan heard the doorbell too and hesitated, wondering if Karen would
come out to answer it. This is stupid, she told herself, they're not going
to eat me! Putting on her best friendly face, she hustled to the door and
swung it open just as Karen appeared behind her from the bedroom.
Standing at the door were a and woman, both in their mid 20's (as
were Karen and Susan). The looked striking: tall and lean, with black
hair cropped short above a square jaw and a Mediterranean skin tone. His
companion was a pretty Latino woman, small and slender, with fine black
hair carefully gathered behind her head in a ponytail.
"Hi, you must be Susan." The man's deep voice was pleasant, friendly.
It gave Susan some confidence.
"That's me," she answered. "Come on in, please."
Holding out his right hand, the bowed slightly. Susan moved to
shake hands with him, but instead he brought her hand to his lips and
kissed it gently. "I am Marco," he said, "and this is Rita. We are most
honored to make your acquaintance, Susan." There was a singsong quality to
his voice, just the slightest hint of an accent.
The woman took careful aim and jabbed Marco sharply with her elbow. "He
tries that Latin lover crap on every new woman he meets," she explained to
Susan in an aside. "He owes his Don Juan looks to an Italian
great-grandfather."
Everyone was laughing as Susan ushered the new couple into the living
room. A leather sectional unit dominated the living room, each side
running six feet from the corner. Inside the L formed by the sectional was
a large, square coffee table containing an array of pretzels, chips,
cheeses, and other assorted snacks. A wall system placed against the
opposite wall held a moderate sized with VCR and a modest rack system
for audio. Marco and Rita sat together near the inside angle of the
sectional with Susan and Karen taking places on either side.
"Let me try this again," Marco began. "Hi, Susan. It's nice to meet
you." Leaning gingerly across his companion's lap, he took Susan's hand and
shook it instead of kissing it. This time Rita nodded approvingly.
"That's better," she said. Then, turning to Susan, she added, "You've
got to watch this guy every second. You won't find a slicker con outside of Washington."
"Yes," Marco agreed, "but at least I have you to pull me back from the
brink of moral turpitude."
Karen interjected. "Hey, -- are you trying to convince my new
roommate that I hang out with sleazy, degenerate people?"
Rita shrugged. "She has to know the truth sooner or later," she
answered, sending a broad wink Susan's way.
The foursome passed about twenty minutes in friendly small talk. Marco,
it turned out, was a car salesman. Rita worked at the same dealership in
the finance department. "It's a full time job keeping this guy honest,"
she proclaimed. "But at least he's not a lawyer."
As she was saying that last part, the door opened and a tall, thin,
sandy-haired walked into the condo. He had bright blue eyes behind
wire-rimmed glasses. His dress was open at the collar but his slacks
were still sharply pressed. Susan assumed that there was a matching jacket
and tie discarded somewhere out of sight. "Even the Bar Association has
some standards," he quipped. Then, offering his hand to Susan, he added,
"I'm Steve, long-suffering friend to these two and Karen's current main
squeeze."
"Hi, Steve. What kind of law do you practice?"
"Intellectual property. Nothing that makes for great party
conversation."
"But he makes up for it in other ways," Karen added, putting her arms
around him for a strong squeeze. "For instance, he's really good at
serving drinks."
"Don't you just love how she slips that in?" Writing on an imaginary
pad, Steve took the group's drink orders. He brought a beer to Marco and
diet colas to the women, then hovered near the door while the others
talked. The doorbell rang soon, rewarding his vigilance, and he opened it
to admit a well-built in a polo and khakis. Everyone stopped
talking long enough to hail the newcomer. He returned their greetings with
a friendly wave and smile as Steve guided him to the sectional. "This is
Susan, Karen's new roommate," he said. "Susan, this is Tony. He's part of
the gang."
"Hi, Tony." Susan noted how the stretched to accommodate his
shoulders. "You look as though you work out a lot."
"Some," he replied with a modest shrug. "It's a good way to beat
stress."
"Judging by those shoulders, you must have a lot of stress," Karen
chimed in. "You look delectable. Adrian is a fool."
"Thanks," he replied with minimal enthusiasm, taking the offered seat
next to Susan.
Tony was the last of the expected guests, so Karen and Steve unveiled
the sandwich makings on the dining room table. The group ate buffet style,
fixing disposable plates and returning to the living room with them. The
stereo put out a soft background of easy jazz, enough to create a light
mood without impeding conversation. Marco kept the group entertained with
stories of chicanery in the auto industry while Steve and Karen kept the
snack bowls full and cleaned away the remaining of the cold cuts. Having
sorted out the various identities and relationships in the group, Susan
began to feel more expansive. These are people I can be friends with, she
thought to herself.
"So tell me about you," a voice said to Susan. "All Karen told me is
that you're from out of town."
She turned to see the kind, smiling face of Tony focused on her.
"Not too far out," she replied. "Maybe two hours' drive due south. I'm
an army brat, though, so I've lived just about everywhere at one point or
another."
"So why move up here?"
She had been mentally rehearsing an answer for that one all day, but
something in Tony's eyes prompted her to toss away the script and answer
truthfully. "A man, of course. The wrong man, although it took me a while
to figure that out. I was about to go back home when a great job offer
came up, so I'm here to stay for a while."
"Good for you. What kind of job?"
"Radio," she answered. "Starting next month I'll be the voice of
traffic and weather on WYYT."
"I'll have to adjust my listening habits. You have a pretty voice, I'll
bet it sounds great on the radio."
"Thanks. The truth is, it's my first live broadcast job and I'm a
nervous wreck about it. I hope I'll do okay."
"I'm no expert, but I think you'll do fine. If you're really
uncomfortable, you can always get Karen to help you control the
butterflies."
Susan was puzzled. "How could she do that?"
"I guess she hasn't told you yet. Our Karen is quite an accomplished
hypnotist."
"Really? She told me she was an oral hygienist."
Tony nodded. "She is. One of the dentists in her office is a big
believer in using hypnosis for pain control; he taught several of the staff
how to do it. Every so often at one of our social gatherings she'll draft
a couple of volunteers and put on a show. Some of the stunts she comes up
with are amazing."
"Has she ever hypnotized you?"
"A few times. It feels really good when you wake up, like having an
8-hour nap in only 20 minutes."
"I can't imagine doing that," Susan said. Immediately after saying so,
an image sprang unbidden to her mind of herself standing in front of the
group, eyes blank, arms forward, ready to obey any order. Instead of fear,
she felt a strange sort of excitement at the thought.
"It's fun, really. There's a certain comfort that comes from being
among friends. And Karen's pretty considerate about what she has us do
while we're under."
"What kind of things does she do?"
"Whatever strikes her. Last time we got together, she hypnotized Marco
and made him incapable of using the words 'I', 'me', or his own name.
You've had a sample of Marco already -- not being able to talk about
himself drove him nuts."
Catching the end of his remark, Rita leaned over toward Susan to add her
piece. "I remember that, it was classic. Karen put me to sleep once and
told me I'd had plastic surgery that made me look like Pamela Anderson.
When I woke up they handed me a mirror and I looked exactly like her. Then
Karen tapped me on the shoulder and I was back to being myself. That was a
lot of fun too."
Seeing the beginnings of an interesting conversation, Steve joined them
and offered his contribution. "My all-time favorite has to be the time she
put all of us under and told us we were naked. We must have spent half and
hour searching for our clothes while Karen rolled on the floor laughing her
butt off at all of us. Then she said something and we realized we had been
wearing them all the time."
"Didn't you see that everyone else was still in clothes?" Susan asked,
perplexed.
"That's the most amazing part. Whenever I looked at myself or at anyone
else, they appeared naked to me. Even the ones I'd never seen nude before
-- my imagination just made up an image. If Karen hadn't videotaped the
whole thing and shown it to us, I'd swear we really were naked and just
didn't remember getting dressed again."
"That was a mind-bender," Tony added. "In fact, Adrian never believed
the videotape. She thought we really had been nude and that watching the
tape was the hypnotic illusion."
Rita's eyes opened wide. "I never thought of that," she mused. "I
wonder if she's right."
Susan wondered as well, feeling her own sense of increasing excitement
as she pictured the group walking around naked in the living room.
Karen returned from the kitchen to find all of her guests gathered
around Susan. "You people aren't giving my new roomie the third degree,
are you?"
"Quite the contrary," Steve explained. "We are filling her in on some
of your hypnotic escapades."
This pleased Karen a great deal. "Don't try to scare her off now, guys.
I have a treat in store for you all."
"Are you looking for a volunteer?" Rita asked with barely concealed
glee.
"For this game," Karen announced, "everybody goes into trance.
Including me."
"How can you do that?" Marco asked. "Don't you have to be awake to give
the suggestions?"
"I found a way around that. You'll see. Give me a hand clearing the
munchies, will you?"
With everyone pitching in, the coffee table was soon cleared of the
snack foods and drinks. Karen placed a large cylindrical candle in the
center of the coffee table. "Everyone get comfortable," she instructed,
"then we'll start."
Susan watched as Karen's friends settled themselves on the sofa. She
had only just allowed herself to realize that Karen was proposing to
hypnotize everyone in the room, including Susan. The idea was frightening
to her, but at the same time titillating. She just stood by the coffee
table, indecisive, until Tony motioned for her to come and sit next to him.
Lacking any more specific idea she complied, still not sure she wanted to
participate but positive she wanted to at least watch.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor opposite the sectional sofa, Karen
looked at each of her friends, making good eye contact. Seeing the
nervousness on Susan's face, she gave the a comforting smile.
"Everybody ready?"
Four heads nodded in unison. Susan hesitated, then nodded quickly
herself. Karen was satisfied. Reaching over the table, she struck a match
and lit the candle. A faint smell of vanilla started to waft through the
room.
"Everyone, let your eyes come to rest on the flame at the tip of the
candle. See how it dances, how it glows. Fix your eyes on it. Take a
nice, deep breath and hold it. Now let it out slowly, feeling your whole
body relax as the tension and anxiety seeps away, carried away by your
breath. Keep breathing deeply as you listen to the sound of my voice. See
how the colors in the candle flame shift and change, dancing and moving
with the air currents in the room. Concentrate completely on the flame,
ignoring all sounds except for my voice, ignoring all feelings except for
deep, delicious relaxation. Let go."
Except for Susan, all of Karen's subjects were already thoroughly
hypnotized. Karen had conditioned them all to enter a deep trance whenever
they saw that particular candle burning. The induction patter was for
Susan's benefit, and it appeared to be working. She was very still and
quiet, some of the tension gone from her face, eyes locked on the candle
flame.
"As you continue staring at the flame, feeling a deepening sense of
calm, of peace, just continue breathing deeply and slowly. If any thoughts
come to your mind just let them float away with your breath so that you can
concentrate fully on the flame and my voice, my voice and the flame." Karen
was pleased to see Susan blink and reacted accordingly. "Staring into the
flame can be tiring," she continued. "Even now your eyes are becoming
tired, wanting to blink. And that's okay. It's okay to blink. It's
natural to blink, especially when your eyes are becoming so tired, so
sleepy. Blinking helps to soothe your tired eyes. Each time you blink
your eyelids become a little bit heavier, and a little more difficult
reluctant to open again. Each time you blink you find yourself sliding
further into deep relaxation, feeling less and less need to keep your eyes
open."
Susan was blinking often now, her eyes taking longer to open each time.
Her pupils did not move, remaining fixed on the candle flame. She looked
ready.
"Take one last long look at the candle flame," Karen continued. "As you
study it once more, committing the image to memory, I am going to count to
three. When I reach the count of three your eyes will close for good, but
you will still be able to see the candle in your mind's eye. One, eyelids
growing heavy, so heavy ... Two, you feel a wave of sweet, delicious
sleepiness enveloping your mind ... Three, eyes closed, picturing the
candle flame, watching it continue to dance before you." Karen was pleased
to see that all of her regular friends had gone completely limp, heads and
limbs resting on anything handy. They had been that way for most of the
induction, thanks to their prior conditioning. Only Susan remained
upright, eyes closed and face slack, leaning forward a little and still
facing the coffee table. Karen knew it wouldn't take much effort to get
Susan to the same level as the others.
Getting up quietly, the hostess made her way around the coffee table
until she stood over the newcomer. "Relax, Susan. Take a deep breath
please ... hold it ... now let it out, sinking deeper and deeper ..." On
the exhale, Karen gently pushed down on Susan's shoulders. The entranced
girl responded by tipping forward as her neck and shoulders relaxed.
Holding her upright, Karen repeated the technique several more times until
Susan was too limp and heavy for Karen to support anymore. Gently pushing
her roommate's body against the leather cushions of the sofa, she was
pleased to see the girl's mouth drop open and the flutter of rapid eye
movements under her closed eyelids.
"You are very relaxed now, Susan, completely relaxed and ready to play
our game. You continue to relax even more with every word I say, and you
will find that when I ask you a question you can answer me, speaking
clearly, and even doing that will help you to relax even more. Do you
understand, Susan?"
The girl's lips twitched slightly, then her mouth slowly formed the
words "Yes, Karen" before falling open again.
"Very good. Do you mind that I hypnotized you, Susan?"
"No," came the slow response. "I feel so dreamy."
"Would you like me to hypnotize you again in the future, Susan?"
"Yes, please."
"As you wish. From now on, then, whenever you see that candle burning,
you will remember this feeling that you have now and you will find yourself
falling back easily, gently into this deeply relaxed state. You won't
question the feeling or try to resist, because you know how sweet and
dreamy the candle makes you feel, and you like that feeling. Don't you
like that feeling?"
"Yes, I do."
"Will you return to this wonderful, sleepy, dreamy state whenever you
see that candle burning?"
"Yes, I will."
"Relax now and listen only to my voice." Moving quietly, Karen blew out
the candle and put it back on the bookcase. She slipped into the kitchen
momentarily and returned with an 8-ounce juice glass and a shiny quarter,
which she placed in the middle of the coffee table. Then she slipped the
cassette tape out of her pocket and mounted it in the tape deck, adjusting
the volume a little higher than normal and pressing the Play button.
While she waited for the tape to begin, Karen stretched out on the floor
by the coffee table and took a deep breath. "Here goes," she said under
her breath. There was a subtle hiss as the tape leader passed the read
head, then Karen heard a command in her own voice: "Deeply relax." Savoring
the sensation, Karen felt herself sink into the carpet as she drifted off
into her own safe, peaceful place.
Karen's eyes popped open at the sound of the tape deck's auto stop.
Sitting up slowly, she looked around and saw her friends clearing the sleep
from their own faces. Susan had a look of wonder on hers. "Wow!" she
exclaimed. "How do you do that?"
"I'll teach you some time," Karen volunteered.
"It's a lot cheaper than drugs," Marco added, "and has no nasty side
affects." Rita gestured at him threateningly with her elbow again, causing
the to draw back in mock self-defense.
"It looks like everybody is still dressed," Tony observed. "What's
next?"
Karen smiled slyly at all of them. "A little game of Quarters."
That was when they noticed the glass on the table, a shiny new quarter
sitting next to it at the ready. "Where's the beer?" Rita asked.
"In the fridge, of course. Tony, go get us a few to start with, would
you?"
Tony obliged, bounding up from the couch and striding into the kitchen.
The refrigerator was packed tightly with row after row of glass bottles,
each bearing a plain white label with the word BEER printed in simple black
type.
"What is this, generic beer?"
"Yeah," Karen shouted back. "I got two 24-packs at the warehouse
store."
Tony returned carrying four of the bottles. "Nice to see you spared no
expense to welcome your new roommate."
"The way you drink, who can tell the difference?"
"You've got me there." Tony opened the first bottle and poured about
half a glass of beer. "Who goes first?"
"We'll let Susan go first," Karen answered.
"Wait a minute, let's review the rules," Rita said.
"That would help me a lot," Susan added.
Karen agreed. "Okay. The idea of the game is to take the quarter and
bounce it off the table so that it lands in the glass. If you miss, you
have to drink the beer. If you succeed, you can make someone else drink
the beer plus you can either pass or go again. If you succeed 3 times in
one turn, you can make up a new rule. The game continues until we all lose
interest and/or consciousness, or when the beer runs out."
"I think I can do that," Susan said.
"Play ball!"
Sitting up on the edge of the sofa, Susan took the quarter and held it
flat between her thumb and forefinger, tucking the other three fingers into
her palm. Holding her hand a few inches in front of the glass, she knocked
on the table three times. With the third knock her fingers released the
quarter. It bounced once on the tabletop and then neatly vaulted over the
lip of the glass, landing in the beer with a solid plop.
All eyes turned to the new in surprise. Susan shrugged, grinning
wickedly. "We played a variation on this in my sorority a few times," she
explained. "Only we used smaller glasses."
"We've got a ringer here," Marco announced. "Watch it, everyone."
"Just for that, Marco, you can take the first drink."
Grumbling about the fix being in, Marco picked up the glass and drained
it. Tony refilled the glass and, since he was seated to Susan's right,
accepted the coin from Marco to take his turn. Mimicking Susan's
technique, he bounced the quarter against the table. The quarter rose up
and clinked against the front of the glass, falling back to the table.
"Damn," he said, "I used to be good at this." Sliding the coin over to
Rita, he emptied the glass into his mouth and refilled it for the next
turn. The taste of the beer in his mouth was surprising. "Hey, this beer
is really good," he announced. "Who'd have thought it?"
"Any beer is good beer to you guys," Rita declared. "Stand back."
Holding the coin several inches above the tabletop, Rita snapped her wrist
down and released the quarter. It took a high bounce and clinked into the
glass with a splash, raising the head a little. She leaned back with a
satisfied smile. "This was your idea, Karen, why don't you take this one?"
"You're all heart, Rita."
Tony poured the remainder of the first bottle into the glass as Karen
slid the quarter across to Marco. "One down, 47 to go."
"Child's play," Marco remarked as he accepted the quarter. Holding it
high as Rita had done, Marco slammed his fist downward once as he released
the quarter. It hit the table and bounced back toward his hand instead of
toward the glass, landing just an inch or two from the edge of the table.
"This table is not flat!" he complained jokingly, then drank the beer from
the glass.
Steve took his turn next, using the same technique as Susan, and was
pleased with the resulting plop as the quarter dropped into the beer.
Looking across the table at Susan, he gestured toward the glass. "Be my
guest."
"You're too kind."
Karen failed in her first attempt, missing wide right. Putting down the
empty beer glass, she licked her lips. "You're right, that really is good
beer. I'll have to keep some of this in stock."
The second round began with Susan again successfully hitting the glass.
"Payback time, Steve."
Tony also scored on his turn, taking the opportunity to give Rita her
first drink. From there a silent contest developed. The more proficient
players -- Susan, Steve, and Rita -- started to pick mostly on each other
in an attempt to eliminate the competition through inebriation. The
others, who succeeded in a little less than half of their turns, seemed to
be trying to get everyone equally drunk. Hearty laughter and frequent
bathroom breaks became common as the players began feeling the affects of
the beer.
Susan was feeling good. She estimated that Rita had consumed six drinks
while she and Steve were even at four. Taking the coin in hand, she neatly
bounced it into the glass. "It's yours, Steve."
"Why am I not surprised?" Steve retorted, passing the coin to Tony.
"Wait a minute -- I want to go again."
Steve looked at Karen, who nodded. "It's in the rules, if you sink one
you can go again if you want. Sink it three times and you can make up a
new rule."
"Cool," Susan said, taking her second shot. This one bounced higher
than usual, clinking against the back of the glass and falling into the
beer. "Rita, why don't you take this one?"
Susan sank the third attempt as well. Beaming, she announced her new
rule. "All the have to drink a full glass each right now," she
proclaimed. The took turns with the glass, each chugging a full glass
instead of the customary half.
Rita also sank three coins in a row, splitting the drinks between Steve
and Susan. Just as she was about to issue her rule, Marco let loose with a
loud, gaseous belch. "Asqueroso!," she scolded. "That's it. My rule is
that from now on anyone who does that has to take a drink."
Confused, Susan turned to Tony. "What was that word?"
"You know Rita is getting hammered when she reverts to Spanish
vulgarities. I think she just called Marco a disgusting person."
"Close enough," Rita snapped.
Karen's laughter was suddenly interrupted by her own oral backfire.
"Oh, shit! Gimme that glass." She accepted her punishment like a good
sport.
Several rounds later Susan had Rita leading with eleven drinks, Steve
next with nine, and herself with seven. Oops, she thought, make that eight
as her next shot bounced too high and clear over the glass. Great beer,
she thought for the eighth time that evening. She was really enjoying
herself.
When Steve's turn came, he tried a Zen approach. Holding the quarter in
his fist, he closed his eyes and raised his face skyward. "I am the coin,"
he chanted. "I am one with the coin." Blowing gently into his fist like a
craps player, he bounced the quarter down and landed it neatly in the cup,
breaking a three-turn miss streak. "YEAH!" he cried, raising his arms in
celebration. His fellow cheered, especially when he picked Susan to
take the drink. Repeating the ritual, he succeeded at his second attempt
as well and made Rita take the drink. Everyone fell silent while Steve
communed once more with the quarter, blew into his fist, and took one more
shot. The quarter bounced down and up, ticked against the rim of the glass
and took a lucky bounce, sliding down into the beer.
The celebrated loudly, gesturing at Steve and repeating "You da
MAN!" until Karen called for order. "He's more than you know,"
she said knowingly. Her speech was just a little slurred, a sign that her
coordination was heading downhill. "What is your rule, oh Manly One?"
Steve pumped up his chest and unfurled an imaginary scroll. "From now
on, it is the law of this land that if someone has to take a drink, they
may instead choose to remove one article of clothing."
The announcement brought giggles from the women and snickers from the
men. "What happens when somebody ends up desnudo?" Rita asked. "Not that
it's going to happen to me, of course."
"I guess you'll have nothing left to offer. We'll make something up
when the time comes."
As the next round began, Susan felt a strong buzz rising like the tide
in her head. By her own reckoning she was ahead of Steve by two drinks,
but he seemed to be carrying it very well. Rita seemed pretty well
smashed, as did Marco. Karen had needed help getting up for her last trip
to the bathroom, so she was feeling no pain either. Tony stayed quiet,
making it hard to assess his condition. When she landed the quarter on
target again, she decided to make Tony take the drink.
Tony obliged, and then tried to do her a further favor by assigning his
drink to Steve. Steve responded by invoking his new rule and removing his
shoes, tossing them back toward the coat closet near the door. Rita missed
and did likewise, removing her shoes and tossing them aside. Marco landed
his quarter in the glass and a lecherous grin stole over his face. "Why
Karen," he remarked innocently, "You don't seem to be wearing any shoes."
Looking down at her own feet, Karen realized he was right -- she had
come out from her room barefoot when Marco and Rita rang the bell and never
gone back. She looked over at Steve and pointed an accusing finger at him.
"Is this what you had in mind, Mr. Strip Quarters?" In one smooth motion
she pulled the tank top out of her jeans and over her head, revealing a
lace- trimmed demi bra with front closure.
"It'll do for a start," he replied with a lecherous grin.
Three more rounds went by and even Susan started to lose track of the
drinks. Belatedly she realized that Steve had a higher alcohol tolerance
than she did, so despite having drunk more beer he seemed to be gaining an
edge in coordination (or at least not losing the edge as fast as she). She
avoided two drinks by removing her own shoes and then her socks, and was
able to deprive Steve of his in the process. Still, by the time her
turn came around again the dizziness hadn't completely passed. The simple
trick of bouncing a quarter into a glass required concentration.
Success again, she noted with satisfaction. She assigned the drink to
Steve and was mildly disappointed when he accepted it and drank. Karen,
who was down to just bra and panties, didn't seem to mind either way.
Marco surprised everyone by nailing two consecutive shots despite his
deteriorating condition. On the first one he eyed Karen hungrily, but Rita
elbowed him again. "Don't you even think about it," she warned him.
"Okay, then you drink it."
"I will," she affirmed, then almost fell forward leaning to get the
glass. "Somebody tell the house to stand still," she pleaded after
draining the glass.
Marco wasted no time after landing his second shot. He turned directly
to Rita and dared her to take off her dress. It was a nice casual dress,
wraparound style in simple cotton tied at the front. Standing up slowly
and carefully, Rita tugged the knot open and slipped the dress off her
shoulders. Underneath she was wearing a satiny burgundy lace bra and
matching Rio-style panty. Her thigh-high hose and sandals had already been
sacrificed to the cause. Foggy as she was, Rita was pleased to have
captured the attention of all three men. She tried to sit back down slowly
and deliberately, but lost her balance partway and fell back into the
waiting sofa, completing the indignity with a short string of Spanish
expletives.
"You are so adorable when you're wasted," Marco told her. He missed on
his turn and it was the women's time to stare as Marco removed his shirt,
leaving himself naked from the waist up. He looks nice, Susan thought, but
I'll bet Tony looks better.
A couple more rounds went by and Susan started to feel as if she had
regained the advantage. True, she was down to her underwear, but so were
Marco and Steve. Karen and Rita had taken several drinks apiece before
deciding to remove their bras and were down to only. Tony was the
most dressed, having held on to his jeans and his whites, but his fine
motor skills were slipping. When Susan picked him for her next drink, he
peeled off the clingy athletic undershirt and she cooed in admiration, even
running her fingers along his firm, tight upper body. Her inner voice
scolded her. You're way too drunk to even think about that, it warned, but
Susan decided that her inner voice needed a drink. When Tony offered her
his after sinking his shot she drained the glass, catching the quarter in
her teeth.
Steve struck again, commanding Susan to take a drink. Susan was already
reeling, trying very hard not to let the spinning of the room disrupt her
concentration, and decided she might as well lose the bra in hopes of
winning the war.
"You have fine pechos, Susan," Rita slurred admiringly.
Karen agreed. "Look at 'em, Stevie, aren't they great?" She fell over
reaching out for Steve's shoulder, taking a long time and great effort to
sit up again. Steve looked at Susan's chest like a child discovering a
brand new toy. Marco also gawked freely, Rita having long since ceased to
monitor his eyes. It was hard to tell through his jeans, but Susan
suspected Tony of having an erection. Marco and Steve obviously did, and
had stopped trying to hide them after losing their pants.
Look what you're doing, Susan's inner voice whimpered. Gawking at
strange men's private parts. Displaying yourself like a cheap slut. "Shut
up and go away," she replied, then realized from everyone's reactions that
she had accidentally spoken the thought aloud. "Sorry, guys, it's just my
Irish Catholic upbringing trying to spoil the fun."
The next round saw everyone take a drink except Tony, who opted to
remove his jeans (confirming Susan's suspicions), and Karen. Declining her
drink, she scooted over toward Steve and draped her legs across his lap.
"You're gonna hafta help me, loverboy," she mumbled. Steve obliged,
hooking his fingers in the waistband of the and slowly them
down Karen's legs. She took them from his hand and waved them aloft like a
white flag. "I surrender, I surrender! Now torture me." Spinning
unsteadily on her naked bottom, she lay back on Steve's lap. Her arm
snaked up and, after a few missed attempts, hooked on to his neck and
pulled his head down to meet hers for a long, languorous kiss. Everyone
watched in fascination as Steve's hand started wandering over Karen's lean
body.
When they finally came up for air, he reached for the beer glass and
swallowed the contents. "You four can fight it out," he announced. "I
think I just got a better offer." Knocking aside part of the growing pile
of empty beer bottles, he and Karen staggered toward the back bedroom.
Moments later the unmistakable sounds of free, uninhibited passion could be
heard coming from that room.
Susan was surprised to learn that she was not shocked or embarrassed by
the situation. No duh, her conscience whined, you're completely blotto.
She was even more surprised when her quarter landed squarely in the glass.
Each of the four remaining players was down to his or her last garment.
Susan thought long and hard about the appealing bulge in Tony's briefs, but
on an impulse gave the drink order to Marco instead. Marco started to pick
up the glass, but Rita gathered herself together and pushed it away from
his reaching fingers. Glaring back at him through heavy lids, she said,
"Pass out on me tonight, gringo, and you'll be sleeping on the couch for a
month!" Instead, Marco sat back and lifted his buttocks off the couch,
allowing Rita to remove the skimpy cotton briefs and put his very
impressive cock on display.
Both women stared at Marco's tool, fascinated. Being a confirmed
heterosexual, Tony used their distracted state to help himself to a long,
uninterrupted examination of Susan's breasts. He reached a hand out just a
little and lightly brushed Susan's swollen nipple. "Oops -- sorry," he
said casually when she pulled back from him in surprise. A pleasant tingle
lingered on her skin where he had touched her.
The sounds from the bedroom grew louder as Karen and Steve continued to
make love with wild abandon. An ever-increasing tempo of shrill gasps and
low-pitched moans floated into the living room. "Forget this," Rita
asserted, pushing Marco over so that he lay flat on the sofa. "A stiff
drink is good, but a stiff pene is better. Excuse me please."
With that, Rita turned to Marco and pumped his rod with her hand several
times, causing the to stir and moan. Without another word to Susan or
Tony, she crept forward and plunged her mouth down over the object of her
desire, taking nearly the full length into her mouth. Susan noted the
muscle movement in her throat as she and licked. The movement of
Rita's shapely ass captured Tony's attention, practically daring him to put
a hand on it and squeeze.
"This is turning into a bad porno movie," Susan remarked to Tony as
Marco's intoxicated moans started to compete with the ones coming from
Karen's room. Without realizing it, her right hand had come to rest
squarely on Tony's upper thigh. He covered it with his own, squeezing
lightly in the process.
"What do you want to do?" he asked in a low voice.
"I'd better go to bed before I disgrace myself. It was really nice
meeting you, Tony. G'night." She stood up quickly -- too quickly. Her
balance deserted her, and her rubber legs refused to support her weight.
She dropped unceremoniously back into the sofa like a rag doll and sighed
heavily. "I think I need you to help me," she declared.
Gallantly but carefully, Tony raised himself up to his feet and offered
Susan his hand. Holding on to each other for support, they managed to
stagger toward the back of the condo. They paused a moment at Karen's open
doorway and peeked in. Steve was on his back, knees bent at the edge of
the mattress. Karen was mounted on top, riding up and down on his pole
like a bull rider in the rodeo. Her upper body kept falling down and
raising back up, as if she were too dizzy to remain upright. She threw her
head back and forth, grunting every breath. Steve's face was taut as he
held on, working hard to stay inside her. As they watched Karen's grunts
turned to shouts of increasing pitch. "Uhhh ... Uhhh ... That's it ...
Come on ... YES! ... YES!! ... YESSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssss ..." Karen
was clearly having the orgasm of her life, and Steve looked to be doing
likewise.
Exchanging a sheepish expression, Susan and Tony continued a few more
feet to Susan's door. Pushing it open, they crossed the threshold clumsily
and staggered toward the bed. Tony maneuvered Susan into a sitting
position on the edge of the bed and grabbed onto the footboard to steady
himself as he lowered her down. Susan's upper body had all the rigidity of
a jellyfish; she fell flat on her back in an instant, legs hanging off the
end of the bed, and stared up at the spinning ceiling. Sensing that Tony
was still hovering nearby, she put together one more coherent thought.
"I'm dripping wet, will you pull these things off for me?"
"Just as soon as the bed stops moving," he answered. Then, with a
resigned "Oh, hell with it!" he dropped to his knees and pulled off Susan's
panties.
At that point Tony found himself in a most privileged position, his head
between Susan's knees giving him a clear view of her genitalia. An idea
struck him and he scooted forward slowly, lifting Susan's heavy legs and
placing them over his shoulders. Starting at about mid thigh, he turned
his head just a little and planted a tiny kiss on Susan's inner thigh.
Turning the other way, he did the same on the opposite side. He continued
to kiss his way up between her legs, alternating left and right as he
approached the Great Divide. He could feel Susan's body rise and fall as
her breathing became deeper and faster. When he was close enough, Tony
buried his nose in the curly hairs of her mound and inhaled deeply,
savoring the smell of an extremely aroused woman. He exhaled gently and
slowly, letting his warm breath flow smoothly over her lips. Susan lost
herself in the sensation, giving off a sustained moan and squeezing her
thighs together slightly around his head. The moaning turned louder and
longer as Tony slid his tongue up and down the outer lips, then along the
edges of the inner lips. Susan's hips started to flex automatically as
Tony continued to breath gently on her private parts and tease them with
the tip of his tongue. "Oh, that feels so good," he heard her murmuring.
"So good. So nice."
Feeling inspired, Tony reached out a little further with his tongue and
just brushed it against her clitoris. Susan in a fast breath and
her moans took on a deeper and more sustained quality. "Ohhh ... Ohhh ...
Ohhh ..." Tony continued to work the clitoris, driving Susan closer and
closer to the breaking point. Soon she was yelling out nearly as loudly as
Karen had. With one final squeal, Susan gave in completely to a massive
orgasm that rocked her entire body. Her legs squeezed down on Tony's head
like a nutcracker and her hips kept thrusting up and down with each gasping
breath. Tony just hung on and rode with her until she went still.
Susan lay motionless for long enough that Tony assumed she had passed
out. He started to pull his head away, but to his surprise felt Susan's
hands grab him by the hair and start to pull him up toward her breasts. "I
want you in me," she said with urgency. "I can come again if you put your
dick in me. I wanna make you come too." Slipping his briefs off, Tony
allowed Susan's hands to pull him upward as far as the breasts, where he
stopped long enough to kiss, lick, and caress them. Susan started moaning
again and pulled him up to her face. Reaching down between them, she
grabbed onto his rock hard cock and guided it into her canal.
Tony felt the smooth, easy motion of his cock sliding into Susan and his
heart skipped a beat. Their mouths met in a deep, sustained, erotic kiss
as he began working himself in and out, clenching his groin muscles to put
extra pressure on the upper side of Susan's vagina, where he knew the G
spot should be. He found it quickly, and Susan responded by squealing in
mid kiss. He wanted to hit it again and again but with a touch of dismay
he realized he was not going to last any longer. On his next stroke he
rammed his cock inward as far as he could, brushing the magic button again,
and felt the spasms all through his groin as he erupted. As soon as he
regained muscle control he picked up the pace, working quickly to keep
pressure on the G spot while he still had most of his erection.
It worked. Just a few more strokes later, Susan shrieked again and
threw her arms up over head, arching her back and bucking with the power of
her second orgasm. Tony rolled off onto his right side and pulled Susan to
him, holding her tight while they savored the lingering sensations and then
went still. "Do you mind if I just sleep here?" he asked, but Susan's eyes
were closed and her breathing had slowed and she showed no sign of having
heard him. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, and released himself into
the arms of Morpheus.
Susan and Tony woke up in each other's arms the next morning. Squinting
at first against the bright sunlight in their eyes, they looked at each
other and the memories of the previous night came flooding back. It was an
awkward moment for both of them; they jerked apart quickly, groping on the
floor for their discarded underwear. Susan gave up on hers and grabbed a
satin robe from beside the bed. Then, as she started to put it on, their
eyes met and they both felt an uncontrollable giddiness rising up inside
until they were laughing together. Eventually the laughter subsided into
contented sighs.
"Thank you, Tony," Susan said with a sincerity that surprised her.
"Thank you, Susan." He approached her again and she hugged him tightly
as he planted a kiss on her forehead.
Just then Karen poked her head into the open doorway, interrupting them.
"Hey guys, get a load of this!"
They followed her to the living room, where Marco and Rita were just
beginning to wake up. "Holy Jesus," Marco exclaimed. "What a night." Like
the others before them, the couple's first thought was to locate some
clothing.
Karen was fidgeting anxiously. "Well? ... Doesn't anybody notice
anything strange?"
Tony answered for the group. "After all we drank last night, it's
strange that we didn't sleep till Sunday."
"Poor baby. Do we have a nasty hangover?"
Tony started to comment, but then stopped. A curious look came over
him. "As a matter of fact, I don't. Not even the slightest suggestion of
one. And I remember the entire evening clearly, right up to the time we
went to sleep."
"Me too," Rita added. "I was so loaded my head should be exploding, but
I feel great." A quick poll revealed that they all had the same strange
lack of expected symptoms.
Steve turned to Karen, who was beaming at everyone, and asked the
question foremost in every mind. "Karen, what did you do to us last
night?"
Karen answered, "Look for yourself" and pointed to the coffee table.
The floor around it was littered in empty plastic bottles. Tony picked one
up and looked at the dark blue label. "Water," he announced. "Bottled
water."
Steve yanked open the refrigerator door and looked inside to confirm
Tony's finding. "Sure enough, there's about twenty more bottles of it in
the fridge."
Marco was still confused. "You mean we got drunk on water?"
"Yes," Karen confirmed. "And we all thought it was the best beer we
ever tasted."
The whole group broke into fits of laughter, marveling at the whole
experience. Steve pulled Karen close and kissed her. "You are one hell of
an actress," he said, applauding. "I thought you were just as wasted as
the rest of us, maybe more."
"Oh, but I was."
"How can that be?"
"Simple." Tiptoeing through the discarded bottles, Karen made her way to
the stereo and extracted her tape. "I just recorded all the suggestions we
would need on this tape. After you were all way under, I put the tape
in and played it back. I use hypnosis on myself sometimes, and I have a
trigger phrase that always sends me off into a nice, deep trance, so I put
that phrase at the beginning of the tape. For once, I got to share in the
fun."
Rita flipped out. "You had to know it wasn't real beer," she objected.
"You planned it, didn't you?"
"I had no idea, really. On the tape, I told myself not to remember
anything about the setup until this morning. Last night I was just as
convinced as you that we were playing Quarters with real beer I'd bought at
the warehouse store."
Susan felt herself turning as she remembered how the evening had
ended. "Um, Karen? Did you tell us to ... I mean ... "
Tony came to her rescue. "I think she's asking you, Karen, if the
suggestions on your tape included the post-game activities."
Karen looked shocked. "Good lord, no!" she declared. "All that was on
the tape was that we would play Quarters and that the bottled water was
actually a very good beer, and that we wouldn't have hangovers in the
morning. Everything else we did was on us."
"We do get pretty raunchy when we're drinking," Steve added. "We didn't
do anything last night that we haven't done before, except maybe for
Susan."
"I was never big on public nudity," Susan acknowledged. "But I'm
willing to learn."
When the group's laughter subsided they all looked back to Karen; all
they could do was shake their heads in admiration. "Of all the stunts
you've pulled," Marco declared, "this one has got to be best." The group
raised imaginary glasses in a toast to Karen's ingenuity.
The whole group pitched in to help clean up while Karen and Steve fixed
everyone breakfast. Marco and Rita were the first to leave, hugging and
waving their goodbyes as they backed out the door.
"I need to go too," Tony announced. Turning to Susan, he asked, "Can I
take you out for a real date tonight?"
"I'd like that," she replied and favored him with a long goodbye kiss.
Shortly after that Steve announced that he needed to put in some
Saturday office time, exchanged a quick peck with Karen, and let himself
out. Dropping lazily into an overstuffed easy chair, Susan's eyes met
Karen's and she sighed happily.
"I think I'm going to like it here."
-wg 7/99
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