Chapter 1

Beverly Reynolds was a tall, beautiful, and curvaceous brunette, with lustrous flowing hair, full tits, a narrow waist, sensual hips, and long well-sculpted legs. She was sitting in her living room talking with her next door neighbor, Connie Davidson. Connie was a tall, beautiful, and curvaceous blonde who had equally lustrous flowing hair, equally full tits, an equally narrow waist, equally sensual hips, and equally long well-sculpted legs.

In other words, both women could have given a hard-on to a eunuch.

Beverly took a sip of her coffee, leaned back on the sofa, and sighed. "Is this all that there is to marriage, Connie?"

"What are you referring to?" asked the blonde as she stirred her own cup of coffee.

Beverly sighed and explained, "There doesn't seem to be anything happening in my marriage anymore. Everything seems dull, drab, and colorless. Life has become a monotony of lackluster tedium. In other words, it's a bore."

"Boy! You are down in the dumps."

"I get more of a kick out of watching my petunias grow and digging around in my garden than I do out of ...spending time with my hubby."

Connie smiled. She had known her lovely neighbor for seven years, but this was the first time that a conversation had turned intimate. "Aren't you and Doug getting along?"

"It's nothing like that. It's more like ...I feel hemmed in by my marriage. I feel trapped."

"Are you saying that you want out?" the blonde asked with a measure of genuine concern.

"No, no, no. Nothing like that. It's more like ...I want to do something different. I want it to be more ...exciting. I want to go to new places and do new things."

"Do you mean to say that the spice has gone out of your marriage?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Beverly replied. "It's like everything has become so ...routine. There's no zest. There's no zing. There's no zowie."

"Well, you're not the first to suffer the marriage blues. I've got many friends who have the same complaint."

"But what do I do about it? I want my marriage to be like it was when Doug and I first met."

Connie laughed as she set down her coffee cup. "There's no way to rekindle the bliss of those newlywed days. Once a man gets in a rut, it's nearly impossible to get him out of it. If your relationship is boring now, it's going to be boring forever. Thus, if you really want to change things, you've got to take the initiative and do it on your own."

"What do you suggest?"

Connie picked up a napkin and wiped her pretty lips. "What you need is a vacation."

"Doug and I can't afford it."

"I don't mean the two of you."

The suggestion surprised Beverly. "Do you mean—away from Doug? Separately?"

"Sure. A separate trip to California, or Hawaii, or Florida. Maybe some Caribbean island. Maybe South America. Any place away from the cornfields of Hickoryville so that you can sit back and assess things in your life. Breathe free for a while. Just you—not your spouse."

Beverly shook her head and replied, "I don't know about that. It sounds pretty drastic for a woman to do things without her husband."

"Look, you were telling me how bored you are with your marriage. That there's no zest, zip, or zowie. I'm simply saying that a separate vacation would spice it up."

"But I've never been away from Doug for an extended period of time."

"So what?"

"So ...I'm married to him. Aren't we supposed to do everything together—as a couple?"

"Oh c'mon!" the curvaceous blonde exclaimed as she crossed her long sensual legs. "That's utter nonsense. This is the 1990's, not the Victorian Era of the 1890's. There's nothing wrong with taking a vacation on your own. Haven't you heard of equal rights and women's liberation?"

"Sure, and I agree with it, but I'm worried what the neighbors might think if I go away and leave my husband here."

"Honey! I'm your neighbor and I think that it's a fine idea. Besides, it's nobody's business what you do with your life. Screw them if they think otherwise. You've got to get rid of some of that Midwestern upbringing."

That argument made sense to Beverly. It truly wasn't anyone's business what she did with her time, or her life. If she wanted to take a vacation—on her own-that was her affair. She relaxed a bit and said, "Well, I have always wanted to see Hawaii. I've heard that it's beautiful."

"There you go," said Connie with a great deal of enthusiasm. "Why not call a travel agent and book a flight today?"

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. You sound depressed. This would put an end to your depression. Act now. I think that it would be the best thing in the world for you to book a flight while you've still got the initiative."

"I worry about doing the right thing."

"This is the right thing."

Beverly bit her lower lip in a petulant manner and asked, "But is it truly right?"

Connie laughed. "Have you been living in a cave? Of course it is. Wives take separate vacations all the time nowadays. As a matter of fact, it's sort of in vogue."

"There must be a better way to spice up my marriage than by doing something as radical as this."

"I can't think of one. Mary Beth went to Las Vegas last year without her hubby. She said that it was the best time she ever had. And Molly Wilson took a cruise to Aruba without her spouse. She raved about the experience."

"I was thinking more along the lines of doing something new, such as taking up a new sport—like backpacking."

"What could be better than taking a vacation to a sunny paradise like Hawaii?"

"I'm not sure that I want to do it all by myself."

"Don't be a 'fraidy cat. It's quite common for women to travel alone these days."

Beverly began to think. "I don't know if we can afford it."

"Pshaw. You're just looking for an excuse not to go. Use your credit card if you're worried about the cost. Why do you think they invented them?"

"But I don't want to run up a serious debt."

Connie was becoming annoyed by her friend's trifling arguments. "For the sake of your marriage you should go ahead and do it."

Again, Beverly bit her lower lip and began thinking of the consequences of leaving her husband for a week so that she could have a little zest, zip, and zowie.

First of all, this was very uncharacteristic of her behavior. She had never before done anything so radical and carefree. She had always been content to sit back and let Doug make the big decisions, such as what type of car to purchase, what size house to buy, and even where to go on a vacation. She just wasn't a take charge kind of individual.

Secondly, she was extremely frugal. She was the type of person who balanced her checkbook daily, and could do it down to the penny. Money had not come easy to her. Her father had been a mill worker and her mother a seamstress. Whatever she got out of life, she got through hard work. Her natural beauty had salvaged her from the scrap heap of the poor and underclass, for she had married Doug, a successful businessman. Notwithstanding her present affluence, she still considered most clothing and household purchases as frivolous if they weren't functional.

She folded her hands in her lap, looked down at them, and said, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'd love to, but ..."

Long ago Connie had learned the way to Beverly's brain was through the pocket book. No doubt the pretty brunette was a true-blue, fourth generation, Kansas Republican.

"I know!" exclaimed Connie. "I have a friend from college who now lives in California. She recently called me and said that she was going to take a trip to Hawaii. Why don't you give her a call? You could rent a hotel room together? That would cut down on expenses and make things a lot more affordable."

This suggestion captured Beverly's attention. "Hey! That sounds like a good idea. What's your friend's name?"

"Jennifer Wellington. She's a fun person. You'll have a great time together. I know."

"All right," Beverly said with an ad agency smile. "You've talked me into it."

"That a girl. I'll give Jennifer a call and tell her that you're on your way."