26 comments/ 49158 views/ 11 favorites Getting Beyond Stale By: TexasFarmBoy "I think we are getting stale." That assessment was offered by Julia Franklin, one of the four wives sitting on her patio and enjoying a pitcher of margaritas on a late spring afternoon. "Is that a personal statement or a broad statement covering all of us?" Tina Atwater asked in response. "Well. it is mostly personal but I think it might also apply to all of us." Tina looked over the rim of her glass and responded, "Explain." "Last night, Jim took you to dinner, probably Italian and then you went to a movie for your Friday date night. Right?" "Yes, and Greg took you for Mexican food and then to a concert in the park." Julia nodded. "So?" "How many weeks in a row have you had Italian and a movie on your date night?" Julia continued. "And Brenda and Bob had burgers and bowling and Maggie and Derek went to the ball game and ate ballpark food. And today, the four guys are watching the game and we are sitting on the patio talking about whatever. It sounds like the weekend is already planned in advance as a carbon copy of last week and the week before." Brenda spoke for the first time. "You make it sound like we lead the most boring and predictable lives in town." Julia responded, "I don't mean it to sound quite that bad. I mean I was sitting in the concert last night listening to music that wasn't that interesting and almost wishing that was bowling with you guys or at the ball game with Maggie and Derek. Don't get me wrong, I love and enjoy being with my husband but I sometimes feel like we are in a rut." Brenda responded, "OK, I can relate to that. There are times when I really don't feel like a burger or bowling. I go because Bob enjoys it so much. But yes, a change would be nice once in a while. Maggie, as usual you are being quiet. What do you think?" "I think I agree with both of you. I like to go to the ballgame but not every Friday. It would be nice to something different. Derek gets the season tickets almost every week so we kind of feel obligated to go. But I would like to go to a concert once in a while or do something different." Tina spoke up, "The next time you don't want to go, let me know. I'll go with Derek." Brenda asked, "Would you really go out with Derek? I mean even to a ballgame." Tina thought for a minute and said, "Yes, I would. He is a great guy and is always a gentleman. So I would go out with him as long as Maggie didn't object." Brenda looked at Maggie and asked, "Would you object to Tina going to a game with Derek?" "Honestly, I don't think it would bother me. I know Derek and I know Tina. I trust them together. Of course, it would be better if I was going to a movie with Jim. But that isn't critical." Julia reentered the discussion, "So if Derek went on a date with Tina, it wouldn't bother you?" Maggie replied, "No, I don't think so. What would you think about Greg and I going to a concert together if you were going bowling with Bob and Brenda was going with Jim to a movie or something like that?" Julia thought for a minute, "I see what you are saying. As long as it was just between us and and....." "Come on and what?" "Well, I was just thinking that if we did something like that, I would want some closure to the evening like we all get together at the end of the evening for a drink or dessert or something so that we could all see that everything was still cool. I would hate for there to be secrets building between us." Maggie replied, "I can understand that and it makes a lot of sense." Tina and Brenda agreed. Then Julia went into the house and made another pitcher of margaritas. When she returned, the conversation had drifted to things that they would like to do and some local gossip. The day ended around 9:00 after they had grilled chicken and steaks and the eight of them had enjoyed a typical Saturday night together. The four couples were very similar. All were between 28 and 32. All had professional jobs and were making decent salaries. They had all been married between 6 and 8 years and had not yet had any children. The women ranged from the petite Tina at 5'2" to Maggie's elegant 5'8" and all were attractive and personable. The guys were between 5'10" and 6'2" and generally had upbeat outlooks on life. They had met and become close after each of them had bought a house in the suburban cul de sac where they lived. Everyone got along well with everyone else. On Tuesday morning each man found an envelope personally addressed to him on his car's winshield. Each took the envelope and waited until work to open it. Each woman had a package waiting for her when she arrived at her job. When they opened it, each one too found an envelope personally addressed to her. The first call was made by Tina at 9:30. She called Brenda and said, "Hey Brenda, did you get an envelope when you got to work this morning?" "Yes, I just opened the website and looked at it. Have you looked yet?" "No, I called you first." "Look at it and meet me for lunch. I'll call Maggie and Julia." "OK." Tina opened the website and found a screen titled Neighborhood Excitement with eight blocks with eight names, one of which was hers. The letter instructed her to log in with an unfamiliar user name and password. She did as asked and found a screen with the following message: "Good morning Tina. I am sure that this is as much of a surprise and mystery to you as it will be to the others. Please don't be overly concerned. This is the first step to see just how serious every one of us was about the discussion we had on Saturday afternoon. Everyone does seem to have fallen in a rut. So in an attempt to do something about that, I am going to propose a plan similar to what was discussed on Saturday. I am sure that you will be hearing from one or more of the girls soon. I suggest that you get together and discuss it with them and then log back in. There will be a new screen at that time that will explain things further. Have a good morning." There was no further screen to go to. The only option was to log out. She called Brenda again. "I opened the website. This is strange. Should we be scared?" "I don't think so. It has to have been done by one of us; we just don't know who. Maggie and Julia will meet us at the diner at 12:30. Can you be there?" "You bet." Tina didn't get a lot of work done that morning; her mind kept going over their discussion on Saturday. She was surprised that she felt a little excitement along with a certain apprehension about the concept of going on a date with someone other than her husband. She wondered how the other girls were feeling. Then a phone call came in and she was tied up for over an hour trying to straighten out a client's account. All four women arrived at the diner at about the same time and quickly ordered a sandwich and salad. "OK, I've been thinking. This has to have been set up by one of the four of us. No one else knew what we talked about." Julia started. "Well I mentioned it to Jim Saturday night. We teased each other about dating one of our friends." Tina said. "And I did the same with Bob." Brenda added. "Well I didn't say anything to Greg, but I'll bet you dollars to donuts that he and Jim talked about it when they played golf on Sunday so that means that Derek heard about it too. So I guess the perpetrator could be one of the eight of us. I just have a feeling that it is one of the four of us though." "Well it isn't me." Tina said. "It would take me a week to set up a website and I'd probably have to have Brenda help me." Brenda nodded and added, "I wish that it had been me. I think that this is incredibly unique and might be fun. But I didn't do it." Everyone turned to Maggie, the least talkative of the four. "Don't look at me. Derek and I went to his parents after he got back from playing golf. And I was in Denver all day yesterday. So Julia, the finger points at you." "Don't look at me. I manage our company website but I don't know how to create one. We pay a geek to do the computer work. I just manage the content. So one of us is lying or it is one of the guys." Brenda spoke up, "Frankly, what does it matter? Someone has taken the things we talked about and is trying to do something with it. This could be fun or it could be a real mess. I think that it might be fun. So the only question is do we want to play and see what comes up or do we want to say no?" Maggie said, "I agree with Brenda. We all thought it might be a good idea if there were certain boundaries and limits set. If whoever set this up paid attention to those, it might be fun at least for awhile." Julia and Tina looked at each other and smiled. Then Tina said, "OK, we are in. So what do we do next?" Brenda said, "I guess we eat our lunch and go back and log in again and see what the next screen says." The others agreed and ate their lunch. Then each hurried back to their office to see what was next. Each woman returned to her computer and immediately logged in. This time, the previous message included a new last line which read, "If you have decided to not continue, press 'Thank you but no;' if you have decided to continue, press 'continue.'" All four clicked on the 'Continue' button and were greeted with a new screen which read. "Thanks for accepting this challenge without too much problem. There is no intent to ruin anyone's marriage or anything like that. This is an attempt to put a little excitement and perhaps a little mystery into our lives. The basic structure is that each week the four guys will submit an idea or two for a Friday night date. These will be sent to you but the 'who' will be anonymous. You will rank each date in priority order and return it to me. I will pair up the couples and let you know the details. You might not get your first priority date depending on how many girls pick the same date as number one. It is possible that your date will be with your husband. For now, all I am going to say is that this and the following screens are for you to complete personally without discussion with the other girls or your husband. The information will remain private. But before we go forward, I will need all eight of us to agree to what has been said so far. Click on 'Continue' if you want to continue. I will wait until 5:00 and if I do not have all eight agreements by then, I will no longer pursue this as I will assume someone has gotten cold feet. If we all don't agree, then it won't work. Please make your choice as soon as possible." The four girls clicked on continue but nothing happened. They left the screen open but minimized it and waited to see what would happen. Then they continued with the work of the day but nervously checked almost hourly to see if anything had changed. Finally at 4:30, the screen changed and they each eagerly clicked on the "Next" button. It read, "We now have consensus. Thank you. The following screens are simple questions or choices to find your personal preferences. Please fill them out honestly. I would hate to set someone up on a date to eat sushi when you hate raw seafood. There are six screens but they shouldn't take too long to complete. I would also ask that you don't discuss the answers with any of the others including your spouse. That will help ensure that there will be a little mystery in the process. Thanks. After I have processed these, I will be posting a personal message to each of you but it will probably be tomorrow. Enjoy and have fun with this." Each person went through the screens and answered the questions. The toughest one was when they had to rank their preference of prospective dates in order. In each case, their spouse was not on the list, only the other three. When each one finally sent their responses, they were greeted with a message that said to not plan anything for lunch tomorrow as they would be meeting with others to discuss several issues. Everyone closed down their computer for this night and left to go home. But everyone also felt a sense of excitement of the unexpected in the air. The next morning, all eight eagerly logged in and were greeted by a message that told them to meet others at a particular restaurant and discuss the issues on the next page. They should print the issues out and read them over and come to some conclusion and be prepared to discuss it at lunch. Each one was surprised at the subjects but quickly understood the importance of each one. As a result the morning went quickly and they made their way to their appointed lunch spot to meet up with the others. Maggie arrived first but was quickly met by Brenda and shortly Jim and Greg appeared. Maggie started, "Hi guys. I guess that this is our group and our spouses are meeting somewhere else. My message said that I am to take notes and send them back when we are through." Greg said. "I haven't talked to Julia and only with the other guys the other day. What do you two think? Is this on the level or what?" Brenda replied, "Nothing so far has made me feel suspicious. It just seems like someone is trying to break us out of our ruts and have a little fun." Greg continued, "That's what I think too but I can't help shaking the feeling that one of us knows a whole lot about a lot of things right now and if they were turned against us, it might be embarrassing." Jim nodded. "I don't know if you were asked the same questions that we were, but I sure wouldn't want Tina to know how I ranked the three of you as prospective dates. I would never hear the end of that." Maggie said, "I appreciate your concern but I think that all of us are in the same boat. We all agreed to go along this far with things and Tina had to rank the guys too. So that is hanging over her head. I think that this might be fun if we don't get caught up in what it could turn into. If it ever goes south, we can always just stop responding." Jim replied, "I know that you are right but I would still like to know who is behind it." Brenda replied, "We went around that question the other day. I think that it is one of the girls but no one has fessed up or acted out of place. So we kind of decided to just trust each other and see where it leads." Greg responded, "That is what I decided also. Like Maggie says, we can just stop responding if things go where we don't want them to. Let's order and then take a look at these questions." They all agreed and placed their orders. Maggie started with the first issue, "Should the date be open or not? Meaning should we all get together and then each couple leave on their date or should each couple meet separately away from home and not reveal who they were with?" After a few minutes of discussion, they agreed that meeting away from home would be better and also would allow things to be a little mysterious. Maggie made note of their answer. "OK, second issue, we all kiss each other good night when we are together. Is a kiss good night acceptable in private with your date?" The discussion was a little more varied on this subject but in the end, they agreed that a kiss good night was acceptable. "Third issue, it is expected that the evening will begin between 6-7:00 with dinner and will end before midnight with a get together for drinks or coffee at one house at midnight. Does this present any problems?" The discussion here focused on specific events that might end earlier or later than the time frame but in general the proposal was acceptable to everyone. "Fourth and last issue, is a fifty miles radius from our houses a reasonable limit to go on a date?" They discussed what would be inside the limit and what might be outside the limit. In the end, everyone felt that fifty miles included plenty of opportunities. "My note also said that there would be additional opportunities to refine or rework these issues as time goes on and we get more comfortable with the whole process. So, is everyone satisfied with what we decided?" Everyone agreed that they could agree with what they decided. They finished their meals and returned to the office. Maggie sat down and opened her screen and entered the information and sent the reply. Then she went to work on her next document for work. Julia had been designated as the responder for her lunch group and she entered her answers. Her group had been pretty easy and didn't seem to have too many concerns about where this might lead. They all thought that it would be fun. At 4:00 a new message popped up and she read it eagerly. "Well folks, I think everyone likes this idea. Everyone agreed on all of the ground rule issues. Go to the next page and read the ground rules so far. Gentlemen, this is short notice, but reply with two suggestions for possible dates this Friday night along with suggested dress. Ladies, I will send you your choices after I receive the guy's responses. You will have to reply by tomorrow morning. Then before you leave work all of you will know what you are doing Friday night but not who you will be with." Julia felt a sudden thrill of excitement. This was really going to happen, two days from now. She would be going on a date with one of the three guys. She quickly opened the next screen and read the rules. Ground Rules for Friday Night Dates 1.Dates will be within a fifty miles radius of the house. 2.Each man will submit three date suggestion in order of preference and suggested dress (two for this week). 3.Each woman will reply with her preference no later than Thursday by the end of work. 4.Friday before noon, each person will be notified of their date and dress preferences and his or her meeting place. 5.In the event that someone is traveling or will not be available, alternate provisions will be discussed. Please advise problems at the earliest possible time. 6.The man would normally pay for a date with his wife; he will be expected to pay for the evening with his date. 7.A kiss good night is acceptable and probably expected. 8.After each date, you will have a report sheet to complete. You should report the things that went well as well as those that didn't. If you found that something didn't work very well, offer a suggestion how that can be avoided in the future. There will be more questions also. Please reply to that by Saturday morning before the information fades in your memory. 9.Unless otherwise indicated, the start time will be 6:00 and all couples will be at the designated meeting place before midnight. 10.Should any problem arise that might cause someone to be late, call the designated hostess with information. Remember, we are all looking for a fun evening, not an evening of being groped or fondled. If this occurs, the whole thing is probably in jeopardy. Have fun. Julia sat back and grinned to herself. "This was going to be a hoot," she said to herself. When she got home, she quickly logged in to see if there was any further update. There wasn't. She resigned herself to check first thing in the morning before she left for work. Then she set about preparing dinner for herself and Greg. At 9:30 she decided to check again and surprisingly, there was an urgent message. "I must not have had my head on straight. It appears that the dress designations are too vague and that Friday is too late to notify people since we will all be at work. Ladies, have your husband log in and update their suggested dress with more details. I will have your choices posted before midnight. Check them and reply before you leave for work in the morning. I will reply as soon as you respond so you can take the appropriate dress with you to work." Julia logged out and called Greg. "Honey, a small problem cropped up. Log in and fix the problem. I'll go to the living room." Greg came out fifteen minutes later and said, "I guess she was right. Casual, Day Dress, and Evening Wear were too vague. So how do you think that will change things?" Getting Beyond Stale "I don't know. My message just said to check my choices before I left for work and that I would be told the dress immediately so I could take it to work with me. It just sounds like we are going to have to think things through a little better." She paused a moment, "Honey, I've gone along with the suggestion that we don't discuss things with each other and apparently you have also. But are you OK with this?" Greg smiled at her, "Yes I think so. It is kind of exciting like a blind date or something. I mean I know who the potential candidates are but I won't know who until I actually show up for dinner. What about you?" "I feel the same. I just wanted to hear you say that you were OK with it." "At least for the first time, I am OK with it. If there are problems, I guess that we will find out soon enough." "That's true. Let's go to bed." "I'm with you." They went to bed and for the first time in a long time, they made love during the week. Usually, one or the other of them was too tired during the week. Friday date night and the weekend had become their private time with each other. Julia woke wide awake at 5:00, an hour before she usually did. She almost ran to the computer and logged in. Surely enough, there was a new screen and she quickly read the instructions. There were three columns labeled 1, 2, and 3. Under each number, there were two date suggestions. The note said that her husband was not on the list and wouldn't be for at least the first two dates. After that, he would be included. So she quickly reviewed the six options. Under 1, she found CW dancing with dress jeans or casual dress for dancing. The second choice was music at a jazz club, dress. She felt that that was probably Derek. Under 2, she found night golf, casual with golf clubs or dancing at a night club, evening wear. Under 3, she found an evening at an art gallery, evening dress or the Greek Festival, casual. She quickly decided that her first choice was the Greek festival, her second was CW dancing, and her third choice was the jazz club. She sent it off and the immediate reply was for her to take casual wear, either jeans and a blouse or a dress. That didn't tell her which one she would be going to but it made it easy for her to pick something that would work for all three. She pulled a nice skirt and blouse with a vest from her closet and set it aside. Now the only issue was which shoes to wear. She decided to take two pair; one would be better for dancing and the other for walking. Then she took her shower and made coffee so it would be ready what Greg woke at 6:00. All four of the girls logged in as soon as they got to work, but there was no update at that time. They worked with one eye on the screen until just before noon when they checked and there was a new message. Each girl eagerly opened the screen and found a message that read, "Sorry for the glitch. Guys being guys, the word 'casual' obviously didn't tell them to be more precise. To them that means 'no heels' but little else. I am happy to tell you that everyone gets to go on their first choice. Go to the next screen and you can print the details out. By tonight, all of these screens will be gone until tomorrow when the reports will be posted. Have fun tonight." Julia was pleased. She would be going to the Greek Festival which sounded like fun. She went to the next page and hit the print button even before she read it. It was simple and said that she would meet her date at a club on the north side of town at 6:00 and that she should wear comfortable clothes for the Greek festival. Her message also noted that they could decide at the club if they wanted to eat at a restaurant or wait and eat at the Festival. The after date meeting place was at Tina's house. It also noted that they should remember to not discuss where or what they did on the date but to keep things general and vague. At 5:00, she changed into her dress and waited until she got to her car to put on the shoes she brought. With a smile on her face, she got in her car and drove to the club where she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Derek. She had guessed wrong earlier, but she didn't mind. She really liked Derek and looked forward to the evening. The festival was nearby and they decided to eat there and taste a wide variety of things. There was music and craft items and food, lots of food. Julia and Derek tried everything including Greek dancing and almost every food offered. They laughed and held hands and had a good time. At 11:30, she was back in her car and driving toward home with a smile on her face. The reason for her smile was that the good night kiss they shared before parting was very sensual and nice. She had felt tingles that she hadn't felt since before she got married. She knew that she would definitely look forward to going out with Derek again. Derek had to stop and pick up some items at the store on the way home. Julia realized that all of the guys probably had something to pick up so that no one arrived at the same time as their date. She parked in her drive way at 11:45 and walked over towards Tina's house. Maggie and Tina were already there and Brenda was just then parking her car. Julia waited for her before going in. All four of the girls had big smiles on their faces and spoke glowingly but vaguely about their date. The first guy to arrive was Jim and he brought two bottles of wine. Derek arrived next followed by Greg. Derek brought some fruit and Greg brought a cake. Bob was the last to arrive explaining that he had to go to three stores to find the right kind of ice cream. Everyone had a glass of wine and a piece of cake with either fruit or ice cream. By 1:00 everyone left to go home with their spouse. No one has slipped and said something they shouldn't have, but everyone indicated that the evening had been a success. Neither Julia nor Greg said anything to the other as to who they were with or what they did. All Julia could tell was that Greg wore jeans and his shirt had a light floral smell to it. She just smiled wondering if Derek had a lavender smell on his shirt when he got home to Maggie. The next morning, Julia rose early and logged in to find the report and quickly answered the questions. Two of the questions asked to give both the person and the date a grade from between 1 and 10. She decided to give a 9 to both of them. Then she changed it to a 10 for the person. Under the comments she confirmed that the dress definition needed to be tightened up. Other than that, she didn't find anything to offer a negative comment about. When she had sent it, she idly wondered how both Greg and Derek would answer the questions. For the next three weeks, things worked a little smoother. The girls had their choices by Wednesday evening and were able clarify any dress question by Thursday night. Julia had gone dancing with Jim the next week and then to a concert with her husband on the third week. Finally she had gone to a boat show with Bob. Each date had been successful and fun. But as she sat trying to answer the questions about her date with Bob the next Saturday morning, she stopped and took stock. She honestly had enjoyed the time with each guy and the night with her husband had been special. But the nights with Jim and Bob had felt a little forced. Jim's humor was great in the group but he sounded a little like a lounge lizard in private. Bob had spent a lot of time talking to people about the boats leaving her standing and looking alone. They were nice and all, but she felt that they both had been a little distracted. That took away a little bit of fun for her. She wondered if the others had felt the same. She finished her report on her date with Bob and submitted it. Immediately there was another message that told her to check back that afternoon for a follow up message. She logged out and went about her early morning tasks wondering what the follow up message would say. She and Greg did their weekend errands and chores and after lunch she went and logged into the computer again. The message that greeted her was longer than she expected and she started to read eagerly. "Based on all of the reports, I think that this has been a successful experiment so far. Everyone has enjoyed their dates and no one has reported a serious problem. I am glad to say that everyone enjoyed the date with their spouse and gave that date a 10. That is good news for everyone, I think. Looking over the data, there does appear to be a couple of things that stand out. Of the three non-spouse dates, one person stood out more than the other two which is interesting. However, the type of dates offered were fairly consistent across the board for the guys. So I also suspect that the type of date plays a stronger role than the person in the girl's evaluations. As a result, I will be applying a judgment factor in the next round to minimize the potential discomfort factor when date selection is finalized." "In general, everyone has stayed within the ground rules but there have been a few suggestions to expand them slightly. No one has failed to report or respond in a timely manner. As a result, I am offering these suggestions for discussion. Please feel free to comment. Go to the next page." Julia clicked to the next page and was surprised at the first suggestion. "Consider changing Date Night to Saturday Night. This would allow both parties to be more rested and have more time to prepare and dress for the date as opposed to going directly from work. Comments?" Julia thought about it and decided that Saturday night might give her more time to prepare and that she might be more relaxed and enjoy the evening more. So she wrote that she wouldn't have a problem with the change. The next comment was "Several guys asked that the ending time be expanded to 12:30 or 1:00. It seems that there are date options that don't end until midnight and they are therefore out of bounds under our current ground rules. Comments?" Julia wrote that if the day was changed to Saturday, that would be good. However, if it remained on Friday, the 12:00 would be better. The third comment proved to be the most difficult for her. "There have been three occasions where the guys have offered duplicate dates. In each case, we have resolved the issue. However, there remains the potential for more duplicate date opportunities. A. Would you consider a double date or at least the prospect of meeting another couple at a function if your spouse wasn't involved? B. The same question but if your spouse was involved." Julia thought about it very hard and then replied, "Double date or meeting others without spouse OK; maybe later with spouse, not yet." She hit submit and waited. She decided to prompt Greg to answer but she really wanted to be a fly on the wall when he answered the last question. She logged out and went to get Greg. Then she forced herself to find something else to do. A similar activity took place in three other houses on the circle. Derek called on Maggie to read and reply after he had finished. He too wished that he could see what Maggie said about that last question; but he trusted her immensely and knew that their relationship was solid. He did wonder what Julia thought. Besides Maggie, he would definitely rate her as his number one choice of a date over Brenda and Tina. She was fun and enjoyed herself and she kissed very nicely, better than nicely. He was definitely looking forward to his date with her in this next round. Maggie smiled as she answered her questions. As far as she was concerned, she would be happy to go on dates with Greg or Derek only. The other guys and girls seemed to be happy with each other so a month from now, she would suggest further changes. She already had her reply prepared to send when the last reply was posted. The next month, Julia was ecstatic. She went out with Derek again the first week and they went dancing together. She enjoyed being held by him during the slow dances. Once again his good night kiss curled her toes and it lasted for almost ten minutes. She was thrilled the second week when she went out with her husband again. The third week she went out again with Bob and was again slightly disappointed. This realization almost made her want to stop the dates because if she couldn't go out with Derek or Greg, she would almost rather stay home. The next Monday Julia got a call from Maggie wanting to know is she wanted to go to dinner with her that night. Julia agreed and shortly after she got home, she walked over and knocked on Maggie's door. Maggie met her with open arms and let her in. They had a glass of wine and chatted for a half an hour and then decided to go eat Chinese food. As they were leaving, Derek came home and Maggie asked him to join them. He agreed and they took two cars since Maggie said that she had something to do after dinner. They went to a Chinese restaurant that was new to Julia but the menu looked wonderful and the atmosphere was excellent. A pianist was playing in the background and they mellowed out with a glass of wine while they ate and listened to the music. When dinner was through and removed, they each ordered a cup of coffee and sat quietly enjoying themselves. And then Maggie began to speak. "I have noticed that you two have really been enjoying your dates together." Julia looked up and asked, "What do you mean?" Maggie replied, "Julia, I am the one who had been running the date night process. So I get all of the reports and do the analysis." Julia looked shocked but Derek just smiled and put his hand over Julia's and squeezed it. Oddly, that seemed to reassure Julia that everything was OK. "We used this program in college but then it was to find out who was going to be screwing who the next weekend. When we first talked about getting stale, I realized that this could be used to add some excitement for all of us. And guess what, it has. Unless I miss my guess, Jim and Brenda have been fucking for several weeks now. And I suspect that Tina and Bob are close." "How do you know this?" "Well, for the past three weeks, the three dates the Jim has suggested and the first, second and third choices of Brenda are identical. In short, they want to go out with each other exclusively. The only reason you went out with Bob the other night was because Tina made it clear that she didn't want to go out with Jim or Greg. That left either Bob or Derek. So I gave each of you one more chance to see if you were interested in anyone else. Needless to say, you have little desire to go out with Bob again and Derek had to take a laxative when he got home Saturday night. So from now on, you will only go out with Derek or Greg and I will be doing the same. " Julia squeezed Derek's hand and looked into his smiling face. "Did you know about this, Derek?" "I guessed the truth since this was how Maggie and I met in college. I didn't know how it worked until later, but when it suddenly appeared now, I just went along with it. Understand, I love Maggie and don't want to ruin our relationship, but you also have become very special to me. I really like going out with you and I especially like the way you kiss." Julia turned a dark red as she sputtered, trying to find something to say. Maggie laughed, "Don't worry about it, Julia. It was obvious from your reports as well as Derek's. I guess that I should also tell you that Greg's reports indicate that he likes going out with me just as much as you like going out with Derek. And I will also tell you that when he kisses me, my toes curl." Julia lowered her eyes and asked quietly, "So what are we going to do?" "Look at me while I answer. The simple answer is that if we continue this fictional game, you will only be going out with either Derek or Greg. Frankly, since you have Greg all week long, I would prefer to have him one night a week and for you to have Derek that night also, if you want that too. If you don't, we can work out some other arrangement." "No, no. I mean that sounds great, I mean wonderful." She blushed again. "Julia, I know what you mean. It embarrasses me to admit how much Greg's kisses affect me too. Of course, you just admitted it while Derek is sitting there, holding your hand." "I guess I am wondering what we are going to do now." "That is why we are having this dinner and this discussion. We need to decide what we are going to do next. Derek, why don't you ask her?" "Julia, there is a big thing going on down near Houston this weekend. It is a festival, concert, and all that going on. It starts Saturday and lasts until Sunday. Would you like to go with me?" "Derek, I would love to go with you. Wait a minute that means that we would be together overnight. Are you asking......." "Yes, I am." "Oh." Julia turned to Maggie for help. Maggie said, "Don't ask me; ask yourself." "Yes, Derek, I would love to go with you. But.." Maggie replied, "No buts Julia. You said yes, so you have a date for the weekend. Now it is my turn." Julia asked, "What do you mean?" Maggie smiled, "I am going to leave you two alone and I am going to your house and talk to Greg. I want to ask him if he will be my date for the weekend at the same event. I think he will say yes also and then all we have to do is decide if we are taking one car or two and if we are going to get one room or two. I'll let you two decide what you want to do. Now I'll leave you two alone. Take your time and if the porch light is off, Derek, I am not home yet." Maggie smiled and kissed Julia's cheek and left the restaurant. Julia looked at Derek and asked, "What did she mean by that?" "She meant that if the porch light is off, we should go inside and wait. Unless I miss my guess, the porch light will be off and we won't see Maggie until morning." "So what would you like to do now?" "Well, we could go for a drive or stop somewhere for a drink and maybe a dance...." "I asked you what you wanted to do, Derek." "I would actually like to go on home. We could have a drink and a dance there and maybe practice our kissing." "Then why are you wasting time? We need to get going in case Maggie comes home early." "I agree except for one thing." "What's that?" "When Maggie goes to ask someone for a date, she never comes home before dawn, at least she didn't while she was in college." Julia smiled and said, "So why are we stalling?" "Well, I have one more question before we go." "What is that?" "How do you like your coffee in the morning?"