IPB-138 The Girlfriend's Lesson by Blake Simmons


Chapter 1


"It comes down to compatibility ... and Roy and I aren't ..." A dour 
expression brought a far away look to Julie's eyes, as though she were 
focusing on something only she could see.

The vested waiter standing over her with a tray in his hand asked if 
she'd like a refill on her burgundy, but she didn't hear him. The buxom 
brown-eyed woman beside her signaled the impatient man with a shoo of 
her hand, then returned her pensive gaze to her distraught friend who 
looked as though she'd been waging an emotional war against something 
she was too weak to conquer.

True, Julie hadn't been her convivial self lately and, loving nothing 
better than a little friendly gossip, Ertha had insisted Julie enjoy 
the afternoon over a glass of burgundy wine at Henry's outdoor 
restaurant where leisure was king and more than one illicit affair had 
erupted hot and smoky from the tables sizzling with 'who's fucking who' 
in round-robin gossip.

Besides, Ertha would have felt selfish hoarding the attention from the 
parade of eligible businessmen strutting their stuff in Gucci shoes and 
pin-striped suits as they dotted the tables surrounding her, shooting 
salacious grins in the direction of the black-haired vixen whose 
amulets and rings caught the shimmering sunlight in penetrating streaks 
that made any man sit up straight and take notice. For Ertha was more 
than a woman; she was a sexy witch with an aura of availability that no 
man, no matter how in love with his wife, could deny.

"I'm sorry, honey, now what were you saying .. .?" Ertha pulled her 
gaze from a table in the corner where last week's prey sat bored and 
rotting inside from his wife's dull company. Ertha took vain delight in 
the power she weighed over men: but now she cut it short and repeated 
her question, this time nudging Julie by the elbow to bring her back 
from her melancholic reverie that veiled her in a dark shawl of misery. 
"For God's sakes, Julie, it can't be all that bad ... I mean now can 
you get hung up on one man when there's an ocean of them right here at 
your feet?" She tutted to her friend, then shot a warming smile at a 
man she'd been plotting to meet for the past week.

"I'm just tired ... I didn't sleep a wink last night," Julie started, 
taking another sip of her wine, embarrassed to discover the glass had 
been drained on the last weary gulp.

Ertha rested her hand on Julie's slender arm, her bracelets twinkling 
as if to say, 'nothing is worth the misery, honey.' "Listen, Julie, 
I've known you since college and I know what your problem is ... you're 
a martyr. God, look at all you've given up for that creep Roy. And what 
has he given you in return? Sure, so you went to a couple of neat 
parties, but you didn't have a chance to get loose or meet any of the 
musicians he was snorting cocaine with. Right? You told me so yourself, 
Julie."


End of Page 1. See ipb-138.txt for full story.