11 comments/ 32214 views/ 6 favorites Under Sufferance By: Denham_Forrest My thanks go to SH for doing what she can to find all of my cock-ups. Copyright© 2009 by Denham Forrest Under Sufferance I really hadn't wanted to be there in the first place; but Bill was my oldest friend, even if we had drifted apart somewhat since he'd taken up with Stephanie. So when he contacted me and made it clear he was about to ask me to be his "best man", I really hadn't been able to come up with a reasonable sounding excuse to turn him down. Without making it too obvious I tried just about everyway I could think of to put him off asking, even making it clear that if he did, then my escort for the big day would be Brenda. That did lead to the phone line going quiet for a few seconds, whilst I believe Bill contemplated what kind of atmosphere Brenda's presence might bring to the proceedings. But then -- after some thought -- Bill stopped beating around the bush and upped and put it to me. "Look mate, I don't really understand what happened with us. But I can't think of anyone else who would fit the bill. You were always my best mate, there's no one else that I'd want to be my best man." Bill eventually stated. What could I do? I glanced across at Brenda who, sitting beside me, had I'm sure heard every word Bill said. She smiled, shrugged, and then nodded, before silently mouthing back at me. "I'm game. It's up to you!" "Yeah all right mate, whatever you want!" I'd replied, somewhat cautiously I should imagine. My memory of that phone conversation is a little confused. "Thanks mate, I'll give you a ring in a couple of days so we can get together to sort out the details." Bill had replied and then the call came to an abrupt end. "I should imagine he wanted to get off the line before you changed your mind." Brenda said with a grin, as I sat there staring at the now silent handset. ----------------------------------------------------------- Yeah well, if I'm forced to, I'll admit to you that Stephanie was probably the biggest reason that I hadn't wanted to volunteer to do my duty that day. Or as they say, stand up for my oldest and one time best mate! And I'll add, that I hadn't been at all sure how Brenda was going to be able to handle things either. But if you don't mind, I'll get back to where Brenda fits into the equation a little later. My real problem was Stephanie! We had all been aware that Bill had found the girl of his dreams, whilst he'd been away at university and most of us guys had had a good laugh about it behind his back. Yeah well, our little crowd had always been a group of confirmed bachelors. Or at that age, rather guys out for fun and looking to sow a few of the ubiquitous wild oats, not on the lookout for life partners. Bill had maybe grown up a little whilst he'd been away and was looking more to the future. But the first time he'd brought Stephanie back to town, I stopped laughing in a hurry. And what's more, I'd instantly known that my close friendship with Bill was well and truly over. I didn't have to take a second glance at Stephanie to know that I was in love with her as well. Not that I could fall in love with her, mind you; I knew that I was completely taken, hook, line and bleeding sinker, with my best mate's new fiancée. Christ the woman was a walking wet dream, perfect in every detail. Stephanie had an unbelievably beautiful face, and an indescribably alluring figure, that her apparently natural dress sense showed off immaculately. Honestly the woman was everyman's dream life partner and should really have been on the stage or a catwalk somewhere. Actually I had always had the impression that there was something vaguely familiar about her, which I put down to her looking so much like everyone's -- in this particular case read "my" -- ideal woman. I figured that I saw in Stephanie elements of just about every model and actress I'd ever drooled over, all rolled into one. Not that I actually liked Stephanie. Now, you have a go at getting your head around that one? I know that I had a hell of a lot of trouble understanding it myself for a long time. I'm telling you, I'd been in love with the woman from the moment I clapped eyes on her but, at the same time, I'm also assuring you that I couldn't stand to be in the woman's presence. My reasons for not liking her were manyfold. Most obvious I suppose, because her presence in his life had caused the rift between Bill and myself. And yeah well, I suppose that there was the possibility that the fact she'd chosen Bill over myself, has to be added into the calculations as well. Mind you, there was also the point that, right from the moment I had first been introduced to Stephanie -- before I'd had the chance to decide whether I did or didn't like her -- I knew she was engaged to Bill. I couldn't very well have gone walking up to the girl and her told how I felt about her could I? Well shit, she was Bill's fiancée already, wasn't she? And what's more, ever since Bill had brought her to our town, there had always been something about the way the woman looked at me that I couldn't get my head around either. At that first meeting, there had been -- what I've always interpreted as -- an expression of horror in Stephanie's eyes when she looked at me. And, at our few subsequent meetings, Stephanie had always had an inexplicable air about her of being uncomfortable in my presence. And well, she appeared to avoid actually looking at, or speaking directly to me. Yeah well, in a way that was to my advantage, because I wanted to avoid speaking to her anyway; so I can't say that it bothered me all that much. I very soon came to the conclusion that she was not only actively avoiding me, but trying to keep Bill out of my company as well. But I supposed, that that was pretty standard procedure when a couple get engaged. Stephanie wanted Bill to herself, not gallivanting around with all his old boozy mates; it was only natural really. Almost all of the rest of our old gang appeared to love Stephanie, not that I could blame the guys. The one exception and -- I had it figured for a long time -- my only ally, in the "can't bear to be in the woman's company" stakes, was Brenda Morris. Brenda had her own reasons for disliking Stephanie of course. For a long time before Bill went off to University, Brenda had been his semi-regular squeeze. Nothing serious, mind you, but I do believe -- like the rest of us -- Brenda had had it figured that that would change when Bill got back from Uni. Brenda was right in one respect, things did change; Bill didn't call her anymore! But in a strange way that fact kinda worked to my advantage. Brenda was a nice person and a damned fine piece of real estate (as the yanks say), definitely nothing to be sneezed at (that's the English description fella's). I'm not sure how or why now, but shortly after Bill returned from Uni, Brenda and I kinda teamed up together -- mutual disappointment possibly -- but somewhere along the line we did. The rest of our circle of friends appeared to want to stay close to Bill and his dream girl, and it must have soon became pretty obvious to everyone, that Brenda and I both preferred to be anywhere that the loving couple weren't. Actually people, who had chosen my line of work, often find themselves changing their circle of close friends when they join the job. Now look, I even changed my bank, because Stephanie got a job as a cashier at the one I had been using. As the months passed, Brenda and I discovered that we got on extremely well together, all things considered. I'd moved out of my parents place and bought myself a little flat earlier that year ... and well, as Brenda's and my relationship progressed, very soon becoming an extremely physically, if not an emotionally entanglement. Whatever Brenda wishing to spread her own wings she had very soon moved into my spare bedroom and shared occupancy with me. Yeah well that's what she told her parents anyway. In fact, we almost exclusively shared the master bedroom; I'll leave the rest to your imagination. As I said, a close relationship did develop between us, but not to the extent that either of us would even contemplate the idea of getting married. Although we didn't let that stop us enjoying ourselves, if you understand me? Whether Brenda intrinsically understood where I was coming from, I'm not sure. But I knew where her heart was and the pain she was trying to hide, no matter how energetic she would become in bed. Whether by accident or design, on Brenda's part, we had kinda consoled each other. Actually, sometimes -- when we'd maybe imbibed a little more than was good for us -- we'd have a good laugh about that. I'm not sure how now, but it had become common knowledge that Stephanie intended to get married in white; with all that that is supposed to imply! i.e. when the announcement appeared in the local church magazine, the words "virgin of this parish" could be taken literally; unlike the case with the vast majority of brides in this day and age. Ah, for those unaware of English church law. By the time the wedding came up, Stephanie -- a regular churchgoer, along with Bill and his family since she'd moved into our town -- had been resident in the parish for more than the requisite six months, required by the C or E. Technically she was correctly described as a virgin of the parish in the literal sense, if only just. You know, at the time I had to wonder whether Bill had hurried the wedding along, because he was missing out on what he'd once enjoyed, with Brenda. Later, I kinda discovered that most, if not all of the haste had come from the couple's parents. Bill's parents because they probably wanted the bugger out of the house. Bill's folks were somewhat well off, in comparison to most of our friends' families. They had a bloody great house with a heated swimming pool in the back garden. Pool parties had always been regularly on the menu, and by that time Bill's folks were probably getting tired of the noise and collecting all the beer cans the following day. Stephanie's parents were probably at the hurry up, because they had two other girls at home and they wanted to get the expense of her wedding out of the way. Everything gets more expensive as time goes by don't it? Anyway so there we were that day, Bill and I -- looking like a couple of complete numpties, dressed as we were in black ties and tails -- sitting in a pew at the end of the nave waiting for his bride to show up. I'd dutifully acted as chaperone and minder on Bill's stag night a few days before and had returned him home in one piece, even if totally legless and out of his mind. And what's more, I had stopped things getting out of hand with the slag of a stripper that some of the comedians had dragged out of the gutter somewhere. I am aware that at a later date, at least two of the guys enjoying the Stage Night celebrations were extremely sorry that they took advantage of the extra's the stripper so cheaply offered to throw in. Still that was their problem, not mine. Brenda would have castrated me if I'd brought her any little gifts back from that evening. And Min would have killed me if Bill had picked up a dose of anything as well. Consequently, I'd had to play chief spoilsport that night. Ah Min, or Gretchen, you have no idea who she is, do you? Well Gretchen (universally known as Min) is Bill's younger sister. By that time a rather a tasty young woman actually. Who, had she not been Bill's younger sibling, I'd have been after her like a bullet out of a gun. However, when we were younger Min had always been my best mate's little sister and therefore a sort of surrogate little sister to myself. Consequently I had never had been able to let the lecherous side of my nature come to the fore, where Min was concerned. I must admit that Gretchen had blossomed into an extremely elegant young woman, and by that time she was savvy enough to make sensible choices for herself. But even then, I couldn't chance my arm because ... well, Bill was with Stephanie, and that kinda put the kybosh on any relationship between Min and me developing. And of course, I'd kinda teamed up with Brenda pretty smartly when Bill got back home. Theoretically Min should have been away at university herself at that time. She'd taken a week or so off from her studies to come home for her big brothers wedding. It was Min who came out of the house to help me extract an almost comatose Bill, from the back of the taxi and all-but carry the bugger up to his room. Then she began helping me undress the bugger so we could put him to bed. That was fine until we got down to Bill's underpants, that I had been intending to leave him wearing. Min had different ideas and began to remove them. "Hold up girl, you can't take them off?" I said in panic. "Why not, he ain't got anything I haven't seen before." "Hey yeah, when you were kids maybe. But you're both adults now!" "Ooh aah, don't go getting all prim and proper on us in your old age Barry? What Bill's got to offer ain't going to frighten me. Now if it was yours on the other hand, I might have second thoughts; I might not be able to control myself!" I'm sure you've had the feeling yourself at one time or another. The thought comes into your mind that you surely must have misheard or misunderstood what someone had just said. I stood there staring at the grinning Min who was by that time removing her brother's underpants from his feet. Then she demanded, by gesture rather than words, that I assisted her in getting Bill into his pyjamas. I'm pretty sure that I never uttered a word as we undertook the operation. "You've gone quiet Barry, didn't you realise that that little spy hole you and Bill made in the pool charging room wall, so that you could sneak a furtive peek at us girls changing and showering could work both ways?" This was what one might call a gobsmacking revelation. Bill and I had made that spy hole years ago when we were young prepubescent boys and I'd almost forgotten about its existence. "Min, we never spied on you, when you were in there!" I found myself blurting out. "Barry, that's pretty obvious because my friends and I wouldn't have been able to spy on my big brother's friends if you did, would we? All we would have seen would have been a lecherous eye looking back at us." Min giggled, "God, it was so funny watching you and Bill tell the other guys they couldn't look through the hole, because I was in the girl's side changing. I thought it very chivalrous of you actually, under the circumstances." "Min, I ... er!" "Oh don't worry your little head about it Barry." Min giggled again, possibly about her apt choice of words. "Most of the girls know about the hole in the wall you know? Didn't it ever strike you as odd, that some of them would put a chair up against that particular section of wall?" "Er, well." "Never mind Barry, most of my friends think you've got the best tackle around. My, it gets really big when you get ... excited. No wonder Brenda was so quick to move in with you. You do realise that Brenda is trying to make Bill jealous don't you?" "I'm not exactly daft Min. Brenda is very upset about the recent turn of events. She needs someone to cling onto at the moment and we were both at a loose end. There's nothing serious between us." "Yeah I know; you're fuck buddies. I have to complement Brenda on her choice of bed partner though. Having studied all the available talent, I have to admit that she picked the best-equipped candidate. If not the most ... observant one!" "What's that supposed to mean?" "Never mind Barry. That will do, let's just cover him over in case mother comes in to check on him. Mother can be quite conservative and she might not like some of those little notes the boys have written all over his body; he can wash those off himself in the morning. Shit what did they do, strip him as well as the... "Yeah well, but I had to put a damper on things. Some of the guys wanted to dump him on the outside of town naked." "Was that supposed to be before, or after he'd shagged the stripper?" "Min, you should have seen the tart. There was no way I was going to allow anything like that to happen." "What, not even a blow job?" "Min, the guys who turned her up, said that she came very cheap. I suspect she is a crack addict or something. Those silly tarts are so desperate for the cash, they don't take any kind of precautions." "A gentleman to the end, aren't you Barry." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Well Barry, if my brother picked up a dose of the clap, there is no way in hell that little miss goody two shoes would go through with the marriage. Although there is a faint chance that my dad's cash might sway her mind. And well, that would leave the door open for you to get in there a bit quick like, wouldn't it? You know, while Stephanie's on the rebound." "Do I take it that you don't like your prospective sister Gretchen?" "Barry, whatever happens, do yourself a favour and don't get involved with her yourself!" Min had a very strange expression on her face, one that I couldn't recall seeing before and I could not understand. "Min, Bill and Stephanie are getting married next Saturday." "But today is Sunday so that's almost a week away Barry. And as Winston Churchill once said "A week is a long time in politics." "Huh." "Alright in love as well. Lets just wait and see what the morrow brings shall we?" "Min, tell me are you studying philosophy at university?" "Yeah why?" "Okay, I kinda suspected as much. If I don't see you before, I'll see you at the wedding rehearsal." I said as I stepped out of the front door. "No you won't, I'm not supposed to be part of the ceremony. But I'll definitely be there for the service. Goodnight Barry!" As I strolled slowly back to my flat in the early hours of that Sunday morning, those closing words of Min's kinda kept going around in my mind. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why she wasn't going to show for the rehearsal. I'd have thought she'd have been roped in as a bridesmaid at least. But then again, she had said that she wasn't too enamoured with her brother's choice of a bride and Min had been away at university for months as well. ----------------------------------------------------------- I was somewhat surprised to find Brenda still waiting up for me when I got home. What's more she was down to the bare essentials, a very short low-slung skirt that showed her navel and a cut-off t-shirt that only just came down far enough to cover those breasts of hers, and that was all! Shit, did Brenda know how to turn me on when she wanted to! "Hi lover. God, you've taken your time getting back here, are you ready for a little light relief?" She asked. "I decided to walk Bren, I doubt I'd have found a taxi anyway. I'd have thought you'd be in bed hours ago." "Hey no lover, I'm been sitting here dutifully waiting to help you release all those pent up frustrations of yours." "Er, what?" "Well watching the guys shag that stripper ... Hey, did any of them double team the bitch?" "Huh?" "Oh come on, I'll bet some of them, tried to get her going at both ends, if nothing else. I'm not dumb you know. I know what kind of sick thought's go around in you guys heads." "Brenda I never touched the bird." "Did I say you did? I have it on good authority that neither you nor Bill, got within ten feet of the bitch. If you had, I certainly wouldn't be doing this, now would I?" I thing I should point out that Brenda had sunk to her knees by this point in the conversation and had extracted my rather rampant member. Whether I had been excited by the view of the stripper metamorphosing into spit roast, or not, was immaterial. The way Brenda had been dressed had achieved what she'd intended it to achieve. Under Sufferance "What good authority is this?" I asked. "Later Barry, can't you feel that I'm a little busy at the moment!" It was with more than a small quantity of self-control that I pushed Brenda away from her ministrations and pulled her to her feet. "Brenda, you just told me that a little birdie told you what has transpired this evening. Now, which of the guys is ringing round and letting the cat out of the bag. Some of the guys were well out of order tonight and if their significant others get to hear about it, there will be hell to pay!" "Oh don't be so bloody silly Barry. I doubt any of the other guys will say a word." The word "other" was the one word I picked up on as Brenda was speaking, but she went on. "The little birdie who told me. Was the same little birdie who called to inform me that you were on your way home, a bloody hour ago!" "You've lost me now Bren!" "Okay, the same little birdie who showed us girls your little spy-hole in the pool changing rooms wall at Bill's parents place. Oh, and the same little birdie we had to have in there with us, before us girls could use it to spy on you guys. Such a gentleman weren't you? Not spying on your best mate's little sister in the nude. "Er" "Yeah er, all right! You informed Min, what went down at the stag do this evening and she called me and told me what you told her. So you are the guy whose been letting the cat out of the bag." "I'm sort of lost here Brenda. How do you know that I told Min the truth, I could have been spinning her a line of shit for all you know?" A strange expression came over Brenda's face, then she lent forwards and kissed me gently on the lips. "Barry Fuller. I swear that if I weren't in love with Bill, I'd fall hopelessly in love with you. You have one great failing in life Barry; you are the perfect gentleman. I know that if you told Gretchen that you kept Bill away from that slut because you feared he might catch something nasty; then you kept him away from her. And besides you ain't quite daft enough to risk losing what you got here, just yet. In a week or so's time maybe, but at the moment you aren't likely to do anything that stupid. Now can I get back to work please, I'm in need of a little satisfaction myself." "Bitch, I'll show you satisfaction!" I said pushing Brenda gently backwards until the back of her legs hit the arm of the sofa. She of course tumbled onto the seat with her butt resting on the arm, then I dropped to my knees and got on with it. Brenda laid there and whispered encouragement as she usually did when I gave her oral pleasure. But then she suddenly said. "Oh my god, what am I going to do when I haven't got you to do this for me anymore?" "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked stopping my ministrations for a moment. But Brenda didn't answer; she somehow launched herself up form the sofa and we ended up in a tangled heap on the floor with her lips firmly affixed around my very rampant member. I tried to repeat the question but I didn't get it all out because with a deft move of her body she quite literally stuffed her clit into my mouth. Yeah well, I kinda lost the plot after that. God alone knows when and how we got to the bedroom and into bed. You know I believe we managed it without ever rising to our feet. We kind of just kept changing positions until I found that my head was bashing against the bed frame. Then I hoisted Brenda up and dropped her into the middle of the bed. Needless to say it was well into Sunday afternoon before I awoke. ----------------------------------------------------------- What followed was one of the oddest weeks of my life. I'll be honest I worked out that something was going down, but I had no idea what. Several times I found, or rather caught, Brenda having clandestine telephone conversations with someone. Look you'll often read about husbands becoming suspicious of what their wives are getting up to when he notices her quickly ending telephone calls when he enters the room. Those to my mind, are clandestine telephone conversations. What's more when I asked who'd been on the phone, Brenda would say something stupid like "Wrong number!" and then set about trying to shag me to death again. Something wasn't kosher, that was for sure. But I really didn't think I was in a position to complain. Well, Brenda and I knew exactly where we stood in our relationship. When either wanted out all they had to do was tell the other. Then one day as I got home after my shift -- Brenda was nearly always home before me -- I caught sight of Bill's mother's car pulling out of the car park. For a moment I was surprised but then I realised that it was Gretchen behind the steering wheel. Min drives like a bleeding maniac at the best of times, when she spotted my car coming down the road ... shit, she took off like a bloody drag racer, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. Of course I challenged Brenda about Min being at the flat, but in a casual way. You know, for an instant I thought Brenda was going to deny Min had even been there. But then she suddenly changed her tack and came out with some crap about Min just happening to be passing and wondering whether I'd got home all right on the previous Sunday morning. Brenda neglected to explain how Min knew where my flat was. I had moved into it after she'd gone off to university. I knew Brenda well enough by then to know that she was making it up as she went along. I kinda let it slide after that though, because almost before she'd finished speaking, Brenda resplendent in that short skirt and cut off t-shirt again, couldn't answer any more questions, her mouth was full. ----------------------------------------------------------- The wedding rehearsal went off fine on the Friday evening. Brenda hadn't come with me for obvious reasons. Actually, I really did wonder how she was going to make it through the Saturday. Oddly Bill had asked me where she was. I kinda fluffed around the question and didn't really answer it. "Surely you can't be that fucking thick Bill!" was how I had been tempted at answer him. Stephanie did say hello to me later, but I was constantly aware of her eyes boring into my back all the time it was turned towards her. Was I pleased that I'd chosen not to join them all for the meal they were going onto after the rehearsal. Instead I went back to the flat, with the intentions of taking Brenda out for a meal, but she wasn't there. Eventually I found Gretchen and her in the pub on the corner. I bought both girls a drink and went over to join them, they'd been so into their conversation that they hadn't noticed my arrival in the bar. "Hi girls, and pray tell me, what are you two little minxes quietly cooking up between you?" I asked as I put their drinks on the table. I know that the description a rabbit caught in a car's headlights is an oft over used one. But staring up at me with shocked expressions on their faces I had myself two rabbits with eyes as big as saucers. "How long have you been standing there?" Demanded Brenda. "Just arrived sexy, why, what have I missed?" I replied then returned to the bar to collect my own drink. When I got back, both girls were completely relaxed again and they gave me a line of crap about keeping each other company because they thought I was going for a meal with the rest of the wedding party. Gretchen kept giving me strange looks though, and she would blush profusely when I stared at her. Which I did a lot, even with Brenda kicking my leg under the table. Mind you, that was a game I'd been played with Gretchen many times over the years. Min had always been a shy kid, and I'd discovered that I could embarrass her very easily by staring at her when we'd been very young. Min only had that one drink (that I bought) with us and then she made her excuses and left. Brenda and I had another then she suggested I got a bottle of wine from the bar and we took the evening somewhere a little more relaxing. Yeah well, the wine didn't get drunk and I definitely never got much in the way of relaxing done. ----------------------------------------------------------- So there you have it. I was sitting in the first pew with Bill, his parents and Gretchen. Brenda was off down the other end of the pew and I would join her after my sad duty was done. God knows how long we sat there until the organ struck up the wedding march, it seemed like an absolute age to me. Made worse I think, by the way Bill kept on fidgeting. "Christ Bill" I was thinking, "I know that you're getting married, but it ain't the end of the bleeding world." He didn't look as happy as I thought a groom should look either. We had stood and stepped into position as the first bars of the wedding march rang out. Look, I'm sure that most of you have sat through more than one wedding service, so let's cut to the chase. We will fast-forward directly to the part where the minister looks up and says to the congregation "I am required to ask if there is anyone present who knows a reason why these persons may not lawfully marry, to declare it now!" Now usually there's what is quite often referred to as, "a pregnant pause" at this point, where the minister looks around a sea of vacant and silent faces. What no one expects is for a female voice off to my right to suddenly announce very loudly and clearly. "I do!" All faces, turned to see Gretchen on her feet. For some strange reason staring right back into my eyes. Mind you, that might have been just the impression I got, I was almost directly in line between her and the minister. "Stephanie does not love my brother, and my brother does not love her! This marriage, should it go ahead, would be an abomination of lies." At this point one would expect shocked silence. Well that didn't happen. Pandemonium broke out, with just about everybody in the church speaking at the top of their voices at same time. The echo with the building made it almost impossible to sort out who was saying what. Whether they train ministers for something like Gretchen's unexpected outburst to happen, I don't know. But the guy didn't even flinch; he certainly wasn't taken by surprise, perhaps it had happened to him before sometime. He just quietly, but firmly, invited the bride and groom, their respective parents, the legal witnesses and of course Gretchen, to follow him into the vestry. Being one of the assigned witnesses as well as Bill's best man, I followed along. "Young lady, I don't believe that you have a valid legal objection to this marriage, but you appear to believe that there is a moral one. Would you be so kind as to be a little more specific?" The minister said after he'd closed the door. "Sure, Stephanie doesn't love my brother!" "That's a lie!" Stephanie instantly retaliated. "Is it? Then if you do love Bill, why do you go off with that guy every time you pop home to visit your parents? And what exactly do you do in the back seat of his car until three in the morning." "How dare you accuse me of doing something like that? I'll have you know that I'm a virgin!" "Your bloody fanny might be, but your filthy mouth quite definitely isn't, that's for sure! And Stephanie, it is your arse, not your dirty little hole. Blimey, does she get vocal when he sticks it up there!" Gretchen informed the rest of the room. At this particular moment I kinda lost some of Min's diatribe, because Bill's mother had fainted. Guess who got the points for being chief unconscious mother catcher and first aid administerer. Plus, of course, almost as much, if not more, pandemonium had broken out in the vestry as there had been in the church outside. But I kinda picked up on Gretchen going on about Stephanie being after their father's money, or at least the financial security that would bestow on her in the long term. Yeah well, Bill was in line to inherit their father's company along with Gretchen. If things weren't bad enough at that point in the proceedings, Min decided that it was time to put the icing on the cake by producing some very big and graphic photographs from the inordinately large handbag she'd inexplicably been lugging around. I'll admit, that I only got a good look at a few of them. But I was surprised that two people could get up to so much, in the back seat of such a small car. The point I just couldn't understand, was why Stephanie had insisted on staying a virgin? Although maybe ... well look, I've been told, that some women enjoy it more in the back door. I've never been er ... curious enough to find out what it feels like myself, to be on the receiving end that is. And I'm not a woman either so I can't really comment can I? Anyway after a lot of shouting by everyone involved -- except for Bill and Min's mother and myself, who was by then sitting on the floor cradling the woman in my arms, whilst I fanned her with a copy of Church Weekly or some other such publication -- I kinda gathered that the wedding was off. Later it became apparent that Stephanie's parents were well aware of her liaisons with this other guy and they knew, as Min had made clear, that he was a bit of a wastrel. Whether they were conversant with what Min assured everyone was their daughter's long-term intentions. i.e. get married to Bill, get pregnant, have at least one kid and then most probably file for divorce so she could live on her alimony payments, I have no idea. Min appeared convinced that Stephanie would keep shagging the guy with the old mini as well whatever happened. The next thing I really was aware of, was that just Min, her mother (still out cold and lying in my lap) and myself were in the room. "It had to be you didn't it?" Min grinned at me. "What the hell did I do?" I asked. "Caught mother of course. It was obvious to me that mother would faint the second I mentioned oral or anal sex. Took her a couple of moments to put two and two together though, didn't it. Then she went out like a light!" "You are a very wicked little girl, Gretchen. Why on earth did you not tell anyone that you knew about what Stephanie had been getting up to before today?" "Well I had planned to, but then I realised that her parents watched her drive off with that guy every time she visited them, and they knew that they stayed out until four in the morning. What's more they covered for her if Bill happened to call." "So?" "Well I kinda had it figured that laying out for a reception that weren't going to happen, was their just desert." "Vicious little minx. I'm glad I've never found myself on the wrong side of you." At this time two paramedics arrived and they extracted me from under my burden. I'm not saying that Gretchen's mother is overweight or anything. But maybe she's carrying a few pounds she could do without. As we left the vestry Gretchen and I passed her father, who gave her a look that should have turned her to stone. "I think I might need somewhere to bed down for a couple of nights Barry, any chance I can use your spare room?" "We'd better talk to Brenda first." "Nope I don't think so Barry, I do believe you might have a vacancy for a bed partner." Gretchen said gesturing towards the churches entrance, where Bill and Brenda were in each other's arms. "He's been talking about her more and more over the last few weeks. Sorry Barry there would have been no way I would have been able to let the wedding go forward even if I hadn't been able to dig up all that dirt on Stephanie." "Do you think that's a good idea Min? After all, Bill's got to be on the ruddy rebound. "My arse! Look Barry, who is a guy supposed to be having wet dreams about on his stag night? I sat up with the bugger all night because he was so bloody drunk I feared he might vomit and choke. Well, the dirty little sod laid there tossing and turning, and I mean literally on occasions, and calling out for Brenda. Not once did he mention Stephanie. She might have had his conscious mind bewitched, but she didn't have his unconscious heart." "Is that philosophy?" "No it's commons sense, the same as you've always known that Brenda was in love with my brother and that's why you are not the slightest bit surprised to see her consoling him." "Okay you are right, I knew that it could happen one day." "And that's why you never let yourself fall in love with her?" "Oh I can see you're going far. Perhaps you should have studied psychology?" "Yeah, might help solve a couple of other problems I've got." "And they are? I'm at your service young lady!" "You said it. The first is where am I going to sleep until I got back to Uni. My dad's going to be really pissed with me for a few days." "And the second?" "Oh I think, given enough time and a little bit of luck, I'll be able to solve that one myself; thank you. Now let's go and get the happy couple out of here!" It was very strange, watching the woman who'd climbed out of my bed that morning being all over another man. I could certainly understand how some guys lose it and go over the top when they find that their life partner has moved on. Not that Brenda and I could be called life partners; we had been, as Min had so graphically explained it, fuck buddies for about a year. Min and I took Bill and Brenda back to the flat. Then tried as best we could to stay out of the way and let them get on with all the plain speaking that needed to be done. Well I did, Gretchen stuck her oar in a few times I believe. Whatever by five o'clock, Brenda was dashing around frantically packing and looking for her passport. There was a honeymoon all bought and paid for, and she and Bill were off for three weeks in the sun together. Bill kindly went through the departure doors ahead of Brenda so she could give me one last final snog. God alone knows where Min had disappeared too. "Thanks Barry, you're my best friend in the world!" "I think Bill should fill that vacancy, Bren." "No he's going to be my husband before very long. You and Min will always be my best friends. Min and I stood and watched as their plane whisked them off to the sun. ----------------------------------------------------------- Min did use the spare bed in my flat for the rest of her short break from her studies. I had to play peacemaker with her parents, who were not so much furious over what she'd done; more with the way she'd done it. Her mother showed signs of fainting again when the words anal or oral sex were brought up. I do believe her mother became a little delicate when the word arse was mentioned as well. "You'd better remember that matie. My mother is a prude and squeamish about certain subjects!" Min said with a grin as we drove back to the flat after the big peace council. The following day I dropped her at the station and she went off back to her studies. Three weeks after they had left, Bill and Brenda returned, sun burnt and battle weary. Well Bill was, he'd obviously become a little unfit during his abstinence and was showing all the signs of a man who couldn't quite keep up. "I'll soon have him as fit as a fiddle Barry, don't you worry. How'd things go between you and Min?" Brenda asked whilst we walked to my car. Bill had stopped to make a phone call to his father and struggled along behind with the cases. It was the first chance she had of speaking to me alone. "Oh fine, she stayed a couple of days and then went back to Uni!" "And?" "And what?" "Well, did you ring her bells for her as you used to ring mine?" "Brenda, this is little Gretchen we're talking about! What the hell do you take me for?" "You might not have noticed Barry, but everyone else in the world bloody-well has. Gretchen ain't so little any more and she's all woman. What's more, she's a woman who has designs on a particular man. I'll say better than that, she's been in love with the guy almost as long as I have been in love with Bill." Under Sufferance "What are you trying to suggest Brenda?" "Well now lets see? What guy do I know who warned every little toe rag to watch his manners around Gretchen. Hey, he went further at a party one evening when she happened to turn up there with her date. He spent all evening watching her date's every move, just in case he tried to get Min pissed." "I was only doing what I thought was the right thing under the circumstances!" "Oh yeah, I knew you were Barry; remember, I've seen the way you've always looked at her." "Are you trying to suggest that I'm a pedo or something?" "Of course I'm not. What I'm saying is that you've always been attracted to Min, right from when we were all kids together. You always favoured her even when Bill thought she was a brat and a pain in the arse. Who taught her how to swim for instance? Not Bill, he was too busy having a rare old time groping me." "I thought it took you a long time to get the hang of it." "Bugger Barry, my dad taught me to swim when I was three years old. I just made sure that Bill stayed close, whilst you taught Min to swim." "Crafty bitch, I wonder why I ever trusted you?" "Because you're my bestest friend in the whole world Barry, and you know that you can always trust your best friend." "Can I, you never let on about what was going to happen at the wedding." "I didn't know Barry, I swear! Min just insisted that I should be there, and kind of insinuated that Bill was going to need me in the near future. She also told me that she intended to claim you for her own as well." "Well she didn't. She stayed a few nights in the spare room whilst I poured oil on troubled waters as far as her parents were concerned, and then she went back to Uni. She's calls about once a week, supposedly to ask me if I'm okay now you're not there any more, but that's all." Bill caught up with us at this time and made a little joke about me stealing his wife back. That brought me to an abrupt halt. "Oh shit! Don't tell anyone please." He blurted out. "We are not even sure it's legal under British law. We are going to pretend to be living together for a while, then give the family a chance to have a proper wedding, when the smoke's cleared from the last bugger." "Congratulations, what did she do twist your arm?" "No she told me that if I didn't make the grade then she knew someone who could. I had to marry her so she couldn't go running off back to you." I looked at the now blushing Brenda. "It was only a threat Barry, honestly. You know that I thought Min would have pinned you down by now. Bill offered, so I said yes. So we got hitched straight away under the local law out there." ----------------------------------------------------------- Things settled down to a kind of routine after that. Bill and Brenda would drag me out on the town a couple of nights a week, and Min would call me every Sunday morning bright and early while I was still in bed, for a chat about ... Well sweet FA really. Brenda told me later that Min was listening with bated breath for the sound of someone else breathing in the room. That's how things remained until just before Christmas. Bill hadn't said anything about Gretchen coming home for the holidays, so to be honest I was taken by surprise. I arrived home off shift a little on the late side that evening. I'd stopped for a pint with a couple of the lads. Anyway as I got out of my car, I had noticed a light on in my flat and just assumed that, running a little behind, I'd left the bugger on that morning. When I opened the front door however, I knew something wasn't as it should be; the wrong program was playing on the radio. Putting my uniform bag down as quietly as possible, I crept towards the lounge where the sound of music was coming from. Hiding in the shadows, I gently pushed the door open. "Oh for Christ sake get in here Barry, I can't hold this pose all bloody night?" Min's voice suddenly said. Sticking my head around the door, I saw that Min was draped on the sofa, wearing a rather familiar looking low waisted, very short skirt, and a cut off t-shirt. "What are you doing here Gretchen?" I asked. "Well I'm told, that you'll take one look at me in this get-up and completely loose all control of your senses. Then you'll ravish me to within an inch of my life." "Is that a fact?" "Sure is! And look, no knickers and a shaved pussy, just how my informant tells me you like things!" "Aren't you being just a little bit forward young lady?" "I hope so. But if you think I'm over doing things, perhaps you'd better tan my bottom for me?" With those words Min turned over and pushed her naked backside into the air, displaying all of her wares whilst she was at it. "Lets take things a little slowly shall we Min. There's plenty of time for that kind of thing after we've talked about this." "Oh shit no, Brenda and Me have got you sussed. You'll prevaricate and procrastinate for-bloody-ever. Now if I've got this off pat, which I hope I have, its about time I got down to some serious work." To be honest Min caught me right off guard, she came off the sofa so fast that I hadn't realised she'd moved until she had me lying half on and half off the armchair opposite. As I got over the surprise I discovered that Min was frantically attacking my belt, at the same time as she was trying to locate my tonsils with her tongue. I kinda lost track of things after that! To be honest the next thing I really realised was that there was a nice tasty, sweet smelling pussy hovering and inch or two above my face, whilst my rampant member was in a really nice warm wet place. I tell you fella's, when a woman on a mission gets her lips around your ... Well your favourite course of action is to simply raise the white flag. ----------------------------------------------------------- Gretchen and I were married right after she graduated a year later. She teaches several classes part time at the local tech college, god alone knows what. All I know for sure is, they end in -ology. I quit the job, and now work for her father's company along with Bill. The Plan is that when the old boy retires, I get the honour of being the boss. Their father says that Bill and Gretchen will argue too much to run things properly. I'm to be charged with listening to both of them and then doing what I think fit. I'm not sure where she heard it, but Min says that Stephanie didn't marry the guy with the Mini. She has however become a quite well known actress in the type of media that you don't usually talk about in front of the children. I have no idea where Min gets all her information but she'd make a better detective than I would ever have been. Oh yeah, three! Bill and Brenda have two and another on the way. Where was I? Oh yeah, it's a shame that, with her looks and figure, Stephanie finished up in the porn industry. I'm sure she could have made it as a straight actress. Well look how she convinced everyone that she loved Bill. Ah the other question that I'm betting you are asking yourself why was she so on edge around me all the time. Well, I didn't tell you that at that time I was a police officer, did I? And would you believe that one evening we'd pulled up a little shit driving a souped up Mini for speeding. And well when we'd searched the guy's motor we'd discovered that he was transporting illegal substances. He'd been nicked of course and probably got his hand slapped by the courts. But just guess who had been sitting in the passenger seat that evening. I suppose she was always wondering when the penny would drop. Funny how I had never put two and two together on that one, until the day we pulled the bugger over for speeding again. Yeah we sent him back to the courts because he had another little stash in the car with him. Life goes on. This Denham Forrest, The Wanderer story, is posted on this site with the authors knowledge and consent. RG