Chapter 4

Janie Kent was three days settled in her old home when she finally devised the scheme for the survey of the sex life of the people of her community. She had wrestled with interview sheets, those standard forms of the poll people who investigated everything including the popularity of television shows, and she had considered methods of control and procedure and the many complexities of the problem. Finally, she decided upon a method. She would interview people herself and hope that they would be honest with her. It was the method used by Kinsey and other successful investigators of society's sex habits. She hoped it would be an adequate method for her. It presented some problems. Talk about sex was always disturbing and it often created reactions in people, making the conversation have an aphrodisiac effect upon both the interviewer and the interviewed. But, she would have to take her chances.

It was late afternoon when Janie glanced over the forms she had developed, stuffed them into a briefcase, then checked the addresses of the people she was charged with interviewing. Janie decided to call upon Mona Andrews first. It would be best for her to start with a woman, Janie decided. It would make her at ease and give her confidence.

Then she wondered how embarrassing it might be to discuss such things with a woman she barely knew.

Janie was in the foyer and about to leave the house when the telephone rang. She paused, wondering whether to let it ring now that she was finally ready to start on the project. But when the phone continued ringing, she could not deny it. She turned and hurried to the study at the side of the foyer.

"Hey, I was afraid you weren't home," Dave Chalmers said when she picked up the phone and offered a salutation.

"I was just leaving."

"I called to see if everything was all right. The house, your uncle's cars-everything."

"Things are just fine," she said. "I got settled as soon as my bags arrived.

"Good. I'm glad you're settled, Janie."

It seemed odd that Dave Chalmers should call, Janie thought. But, she was glad to hear from him. It was as if he was a friend already, one upon whom she could depend.

"Listen, I had an idea," Dave said.

"I'm ready for any of them," she answered.

"Good. How about driving out to your uncle's lodge with me tomorrow. You haven't been there yet and you should see it. We can stop along the way and have lunch."

"I don't know, Dave,"-he said quickly, sensing some disinclination to be with the lawyer while she was involved in the survey.

"Please," Dave said. He sounded as if he really wanted to be with her.

"I have a lot of work to do."

"It'll wait for you," he said.

"Well, all right," she answered. "Is late afternoon all right? It'll give me a chance to get something done in the earlier part of the day.

"Fine. I'll pick you up about four." He paused, then said, "There are quite a few things I want to talk over with you. Okay?"

"Of course."

Janie said good-bye and replaced the phone on the desk. She stayed by the desk a moment, then turned and hurried from the house.

Mona Andrews lived at the opposite end of town. Janie knew the area well. She drove directly to it.

Mona's house was a large colonial. The lawn was well kept, and the long, sleek automobile in the driveway gave evidence of the woman's presence.

Janie breathed deeply, lifted her briefcase, departed her car, and walked up the long front walk of the house.

Mona Andrews answered the door almost before the three-toned chime ceased its ringing.

"Well, Jane, darling, it's good to see you," the woman exclaimed, opening the door wide.

"If you have a little time I'd like to talk to you," Janie explained.

"All the time in the world for you, precious."

Janie entered the house. Mona was more radiant than Janie believed it possible for a woman in her middle-thirties. She wore lounging pajamas. The top of them was low cut, so low that there was a V-shaped slice of flesh from her neck to her navel. The material appeared to be satin and it did exciting things to Mona's body as she moved.

"You have a briefcase with you," Mona observed. "I just hope that doesn't mean you're selling insurance."

"Hardly," Janie replied.

Mona ushered Janie into the living room. She placed her arm around Janie's waist and acted in a genuinely friendly manner.

When they were seated on a couch, Janie, somewhat shyly, asked, "Do you know why I'm here, Mona?"

"To pay me a call, I hope."

"Yes, that, of course," she said. "But there's something else, too."

"Pray tell, what is the mystery," Mona said, smiling.

"I want to interview you. In fact, I have to. It's required of me by my uncle's will."

"Well, I'm a willing subject, I think. Go ahead. Shoot."

"I want to ask you some questions about your sex life."

"My sex life! Good heavens!"

"I'd appreciate it," Janie said. "You see, Uncle Amos set down certain conditions to his fortune. I want to comply with them. I can't tell you what they all are, but interviewing you and some others about your sex habits is part of it. So, may I? Will you cooperate?"

Mona leaned back and laughed. Janie could not help notice the ripple of the material at her breasts as she laughed. It was a very fetching sight, but one that made Janie wonder why she should suddenly be interested in the body of another woman.

"Is it really that funny?" Janie asked when Mona continued laughing.

"It's funny that I should be picked to be interviewed, darling," Mona said. "Frankly, you couldn't find a better subject. There's nothing I'd rather do than talk about sex-that is, talking is the second best thing to do. Sex, itself, is number one."

"Good," Janie said, delighted. She opened her briefcase and withdrew a notebook from it.

"I have some questions to ask," Jane said rather absently as she leafed through the book.

"Well, while you arrange them, darling, I'll make us a drink."

"That would be fine," Janie said.

Mona rose from the couch and crossed the room to where a small portable bar rested in a corner. Janie watched the woman as she moved. Again, she was stricken with Mona's grace and beauty. Again, she could not help but feel reaction for the shimmering lines of Mona's pajamas as they crinkled against her body. Janie wondered about Mona, and for the first time knew some real enthusiasm for the interview she was about to conduct. It would be interesting, she was sure, to discover the secrets of Mona Andrews' sex life.

Mona returned with drinks. She placed them on a table near the couch, then handed Janie one.

"Thank you," she said.

"Oh, you're quite welcome," Mona replied.

Each of the women sipped from their drinks for a few moments, then Janie returned hers to the tray on the table and turned to her notes. After glancing at them, she looked at Mona.

"Some of these questions will be quite personal," Janie explained. "But there is no other way to conduct these interviews. None at all. I've thought of everything."

"Everything?" Mona questioned.

"Yes."

"That covers a lot of ground."

"As much as I could think of," Janie said.

"Well, sweetie, maybe I can add to your knowledge. Go ahead and shoot with the questions," Mona told her.

"All right," Janie said. "I'm using a standard method of psychological testing, that is, I'm going to ask the questions quickly and I'd like you to respond to them as spontaneously as possible. And please remember that what you tell me will be confidential, so you don't have to worry about the honesty of your answers."

"I never worry about being honest about sex,"

Mona said, an amused expression playing at the comers of her mouth. "Good."

Mona finished her drink in a long swallow, then dismissed the glass to the table. Then she leaned back in a corner of the couch and smiled at Janie.

"All right, here we go," Jane said.

"Shoot."

"Are you married?"

"Divorced."

"Why?"

"Because my husband was a sexual failure," Mona said quickly.

Janie blinked because of the quick and honest answer. Then she went on.

"Did you have premarital relations before you were married?"

"Of course," Mona said casually.

"Was premarital sex satisfactory for you?"

"A hell of a lot more satisfactory than after we got married."

Janie looked up from her notes. "Why is that?" She added the question because of her own curiosity.

"I don't really know," Mona said. "Perhaps it was the excitement of doing something that is considered wrong by most people. You know, the thrill of breaking society's laws, and all that jazz."

"I suppose it would be that way," Janie said. She glanced at her notes, flipped over a page, then said, "Did you have premarital relations with any man other than the man you married?"

"Oh, heavens, yes."

"How many?"

"Dozens, darling, dozens. I don't really remember how many lovers I have had."

"Oh," Janie said. She spent a few moments reviewing her notes, then asked, "And while you were married, did you ever commit adultery?"

"Oh, my, yes," Mona answered. "Many times."

"Why?" Janie asked.

"For satisfaction," Mona replied. "I wasn't receiving that from my husband, so I went elsewhere."

"Did you feel guilty about it."

"Not a bit."

"Not ever."

"Never."

"Did your husband ever find out."

"Yes. He was furious."

"And did it stop you from having extra-marital affairs?" Janie asked.

"Only for a day or so, then I started again. You see, precious girl, I began to feel things that I had never before felt and I became quite hooked upon it. I couldn't do without it-absolutely couldn't, darling."

"I see," Janie said. She paused and readjusted her position for greater comfort, then, looking directly at Mona and sounding less like a sociologist than like a curious young girl, she said, "Was it really that pleasant-that exciting for you?"

Mona leaned forward and peered into Janie's eyes. "Don't you know?"

Janie didn't answer at once. When she did, she was flustered and tried to laugh off the question, saying, "Well, it's getting difficult to tell the interviewer from the interviewee, isn't it?"

"You didn't answer my question," Mona said.

"No, I didn't," Janie said.

"I'll ask it again. Don't you know about the excitement of love."

"No," she admitted.

"You poor darling," Mona said. She looked very sad, almost on the verge of tears.

"Well, let's get on with the questions," Janie said. She again looked at her notes. Then she said, "Did you love any of the men with whom you made love?"

"But, of course, precious," Mona exclaimed. "I loved them all."

"All of them?"

"Yes. At the time that I was making love to them, that is."

"Would you have married any of them?"

"Any one of them, darling, had they asked me. But the men were lovers, real, genuine lovers, therefore they did not wish to be bound to any one lady. So, they were merely my lovers, never my husbands."

"I see," Janie said. She fussed with her notes, trying to collect her own thoughts, for she was shaken. She was not sure of the reason, but she guessed that she was dismayed by the candidness of the interview with Mona Andrews. And she sensed that it caused an awakening of some emotions of her own. Fleetingly, she thought of Jack Prescott and her love adventures with him. Then she dismissed them and the image of David Chalmers formed. She wondered about him. And, she felt a certain excitement for the thought.

"Having trouble finding the next group of questions?" Mona asked.

"A little." She paused, then said, "Here we are. Mona, with your husband or with any of your lovers, did you ever practice-well, sexual acts other than those that are considered 'normal'? "

"What's normal, darling?" Mona laughed.

"You know what I mean, I'm sure."

"Of course I do."

"Well?" Janie encouraged.

"Of course I have, darling," Mona answered. "As I see it, it is impossible for a woman or a man not to practice some deviations. That is, if they are adequate lovers."

"You mean that you consider deviations a necessity to love?"

"Of course. You see, in some societies a kiss could be considered a deviation.' In other societies something else might be considered abnormal. And in our western society we have some codes that have been established by prudes and idiots. Yes, deviations are important, but only so long as they do not impose unpleasantness upon one of the partners. Anything of sex must be of mutual consent, as I see it."

"That sounds very intelligent," Jane said.

"I think so, too," Mona replied, smiling.

There were some more questions. There were more answers from Mona, too, all candid, all laced with wisdom, all honestly delivered.

And soon the interview was ended.

"Now that that's over with," Mona said, "how about another drink?"

"An excellent idea," Janie agreed.

Mona made new drinks. She delivered them. The two of them drank and talked of casual things, and when the drinks were finished, Janie made the signs of getting ready to leave. It was then that Mona stopped her.

"Don't leave yet, darling," she said.

"I really must."

"But there's one question you haven't asked me?"

"What's that?" Janie inquired curiously.

"You haven't asked me if I like girls-if I have ever had anything to do with girls."

Now, Janie was truly shocked. Lesbianism was something that she hadn't considered. It seemed remote from the purpose of her survey, so remote that she reprimanded herself for a moment for being a careless investigator.

"Well, are you going to ask it?" Mona said.

"No," Janie replied. "I think I know the answer."

"But, if you're not sure-just in case there is some doubt--. "

Mona stopped talking abruptly. Then she reached one hand out, gently laced her fingers behind Janie's neck and urged her forward.

For a moment, Janie did not realize that she was being kissed by a woman. The lips seemed the same, the darting tongue was like that of any hungry lover. The only difference was in the perfume scent of Mona's mouth. Only this reminded Janie that she was receiving her first hot, woman's kiss.

"Oh, you are so sweet," Mona whimpered into Janie's ear after ending their kiss. "So, so sweet."

Janie leaned back on the couch. She kept her eyes closed. It was as if she wished to black out the reality of the act. But, she could not black out the effect of Mona's kiss. Janie admitted to herself that she had liked it. And she also liked the feeling that was brought to her when Mona's hand sneaked inside her blouse and touched her breast.

"Oh you're soft, so soft," Mona said.

"Don't. You-you shouldn't," Janie said.

"Why not, darling?"

"Because it's wrong?"

"Who says so?" Mona asked, beginning to knead Janie's breast.

"I-I don't know."

Janie almost stopped breathing from the thrill of Mona's fingers playing with her breasts and nipples. And she allowed the play to continue as she leaned back on the couch with her eyes closed. But when Mona brought her other hand into play at the bottom of Janie's skirt, the young girl brushed both of Mona's hands away and quickly jumped to her feet.

"I-I can't," she said to Mona.

Mona straightened. "I'm very sorry. But remember, I did say both partners have to be in accord."

"And I'm not," Janie said.

"I know, darling. And-it's quite all right. I do understand."

Janie straightened her clothing, feeling very self-conscious for the kiss and touches she had allowed. But Mona made no new move to initiate love-making and soon Janie was in command of her poise once again.

"It's-been interesting, Mona," Janie said. "Yes, it has. A little disappointing for me, but perhaps you'll have a change of heart some day."

"Perhaps."

"And if you do, darling, don't forget I'll be right here waiting for you any time you care to call."

"I-won't-forget."

"Good."

Mona walked with Janie to the foyer. They bid each other good-bye. Janie hurried to her car. And on the way home, she wondered what had happened to her, what had possessed her to allow the sexual advances of a lesbian. It seemed a note worth marking, for, perhaps, it was an indication of the other changes that might come to her life before the sex query was completed.