“Trish opened the door for me and we heard it then. Trish’s eyes were so big!” Tina smiled at the memory. “Mrs. King was arriving home with her son and they were standing by their car and heard it as well. She looked over at us and laughed but her son seemed upset.”
Ben put his head in his hands, mortified. “That’s the last time I have sex in the hot tub.” he moaned.
“I hope not! I would like to try one day!” Tina said with an upset look.
“Good morning Tina, Ben!” Lori said from the doorway as she hobbled into the room.
“Good morning Lori.” Ben said with an embarrassed glance.
Tina was amazed that he could tell the difference between the sisters so quickly. She had trouble doing it at all. “Good morning Lori. Would you like some breakfast?”
“No thank you, just coffee if you’ve made some.” she said and Tina pointed to the freshly brewed pot.
Lori joined them at the table with her mug of coffee and tenderly sat on a chair. Ben looked concerned but Lori just waved it off. “It was worth it Ben.”
“I’m afraid our activities in the hot tub weren’t only heard by Lisa.” he said to the young woman whose only response was to look up with an interested expression.
“Trish, Tina, Rochelle and her son Jayden also heard us… you.” Ben said.
“The only one in that group that causes me any discomfort is Jayden. The kid seriously thinks he’s charming but comes across as a total skeez.” Lori grimaced.
At Ben’s blank look Lori explained. “A slimy little player. He’s tried hitting on me, then Lisa, then suggested the both of us could party with him. He looks at women like they’re already naked. Ugh!”
Ben looked sad. “Rochelle mentioned her son was emulating his father’s behavior.” He shook his head then looked up at Lori. “Is your sister awake?”
Lori grimaced. “Yeah but she’s giving herself a little extra time as she’s pretty sore this morning.”
Ben frowned and got up from the table. He went to the bedroom and saw Lisa sitting on the edge of the bed. He knelt down in front of her and saw she was breathing heavily. “Are you ok?”
She opened her eyes and took in his concerned expression. “Morning Ben. I’m ok. Just some cramping and bruises. They’ll go away.”
Ben got angry with himself for hurting her and she saw it on his face. “No! Please Ben! I wouldn’t change a second of our night last night. It was everything I dreamed of… more than I dreamed it would be. I- I learned things about myself. I feel… better about myself. More complete. Please don’t regret something so special to me! Please!” she begged.
Ben wanted to apologize. To beg her for forgiveness. But he knew she would take that as a rejection of what they’d experienced together the night before. So instead he put his hands on her head and kissed her hard. She moaned and clung to him. He pulled back and his face showed his emotional turmoil. Finally he gave her a small smile and nodded.
He grabbed his dressing gown and draped it over her shoulders. Then he scooped her up and carried her back to the kitchen and gently set her on a chair. Lori got her a mug of coffee and they sat in companionable silence for a while.
He looked at the clock and realized he had to leave for his doctor’s appointment so he gave each woman a kiss and headed out.
Ben sat in the comfortable chair across from Dr. Granger and contemplated integrity. She had asked him where he thought his difficulty with lying came from.
“There were people in my childhood who lied to me. Foster parents who said they’d take good care of me but didn’t. Other foster kids who said they were my friends but weren’t. Girls and women who said they loved me but didn’t. I promised myself I wouldn’t be like them. I promised myself I’d be someone others could depend upon.” He paused and thought of his activities with the twins the previous night. Was he lying to them?
“Were you successful? Are you that person?” Granger asked.
“I thought I was. But after last night I’m not sure.” Ben said.
“What happened last night?” she asked.
“I pretended I was someone I’m not.” Ben said quietly.
“Can you expand upon that?” she pressed gently.
Ben sighed and squirmed a little in his chair. He had hoped to avoid speaking about sex with the councillor but he saw no other choice. “In my neighborhood there are two young women, twins who are 22 or 23. They’ve been… wooing me. No, it’s not romantic. They’ve been trying to get me to have sex with them. Their mother and I have been trying to teach them to be less selfish, to take responsibility for their actions. During this effort one of the twins had an epiphany and came around. The other one had more difficulty as she was used to getting her way and didn’t want to give that up. As a last resort I used sex as a bargaining tool to get them to change their ways. The problem is, they’re attracted to the dominant persona I use for Tina, the submissive who lives with me.”
“You have a separate and distinct persona for dealing with different people?” the doctor asked.
“Well… no, I guess persona is the wrong term. It’s… it’s more that for Tina I know that she needs me to be more dominant so I allow myself to be more dominant. The twins saw that a short time ago and found it… appealing. The thing is they needed a more extreme form of that dominance. The sex was… a little rough. This morning I wanted to apologize but they were so happy they would have taken an apology as a rejection of the evening before.”