Chapter 12
The next day I read of the bizarre bust on Fifty-Seventh Street. While I sat in a bath and coaxed my pubic follicles to replenish my patch of hair, the phone rang.
I dropped into my bedroom and answered it. It was Davina Loomis.
"Samantha, I know you quit yesterday and I don't blame you one bit, but I'm in a bind."
I sighed and prepared myself for her sob story.
"We're behind schedule and I don't have enough enumerators. Could you put in just one more week?"
I should have said no dice right then, but I looked out on the hall table and saw three bills I hadn't the heart to open that morning. Telephone answering services and publicity photos don't come cheaply, especially not for out of work actresses.
"O.K., but no more nuts," I said wearily.
"Come by later and I'll give you a caseload," Davina said, perking up.
I scratched my bare muff and hated myself for being poor. "A-one, first class addresses," she added before hanging up. I recalled the doorman to the Simmons homestead and promptly began worrying.
The next three days erased my fears. The interviews were easy and no one made so much as a pass at me. I racked up fifteen delinquents, calling first to be sure they at least sounded normal.
"Who?"
"Samantha Bonno, for the United States Census Bureau," I repeated. "You left some blanks open on the form the government sent you, Mrs. Alquist. Can we straighten it out this afternoon?"
"Why certainly. What time," Mrs. Alquist asked pleasantly.
"I can be there in fifteen minutes," I replied. There was a long pause. "That's fine," she said finally.
"If its not convenient we can make it later."
"No, that's fine," the voice assured and the phone clicked.
I gathered my papers and trudged downstairs. The address was a fashionable building on Third Avenue. I rang the bell to the three-storey brownstone and pushed the door on the buzzer signal.
The Alquists were extraordinarily well-heeled from the look of the carpets and antique decor inside. The smell of expensive perfume and quality liquor pervaded the downstairs hallway and I took it all in waiting for someone to appear.
The woman I spoke to emerged at the top of the landing in chic lounging pajamas. She was about my age with her dark hair in classic ringlets. She looked like a high fashion model as she swept down the stairs.
"Miss Bonno," she smiled. Even her teeth had highlights. I nodded. "How marvelous. The government certainly has good taste this year. I didn't know what to expect, a walking computer, perhaps."
A lilt of laughter wafted from upstairs.
"If you're busy now, I can come back later."
"Nonsense. In fact you're welcome to join us upstairs. A few friends dropped in. They might like to meet you."
The tilt of her head suddenly registered on me. I had seen her somewhere.
"Were you on the cover of Vogue a few months ago," I asked.
"Ah, notoriety catches up to me again," she acknowledged.
"Susan Lovell!"
"Right again."
The pieces had flown into place. She was the wife of Ronald Alquist, one of the busiest young producers in New York. And she was one of the busiest fashion models in this fair city too.
"And you," Mrs. Alquist asked, warmed by my recognition. "Surely your career is not ringing doorbells to find out if people colored in the right circles on their Census forms."
"I'm an actress," I said almost in apology. "Ah, yes. A rocky road," she said with compassion. "Then you must come up and meet my husband."
My luck was too good to be actual. For months I had tried to meet a producer of Ronald Alquist's stature with no success. Yet here his wife had practically engraved an invitation.
We took care of the government's business in short order and I left my Census kit in the closet downstairs.
Mrs. Alquist led the way upstairs and chattered away with admiration for my ingenuity at earning a buck during lean times. I admired the priceless tapestry that clung to the wall.
The cocktail chatter and laughter became louder as we neared the second floor. We stepped through an ormolu arch and I recognized the mustached Ronald Alquist immediately. He rose and his wife introduced me, "Samantha Bonno, a very talented actress."
Two chicly tailored women looked veiled daggers at me and one young man smiled broadly. I set the record straight by explaining that I had merely come to take the Census.
"My, my, the government comes in all shapes and sizes," one of the women joked.
"Marsha Spalding, Samantha Bonno," Susan Alquist introduced. "And Karen Leslie."
I nodded to the two chicks, positive I had read their names and seen their pictures in some society column or another. The sharply dressed young man had to be their hairdresser, from the look of him. But I had made that kind of judgment to my embarrassment before.
"How's the nose count, Miss Bonno," Ronald Alquist asked, getting me a drink.
"They come in all sizes and shapes," I said trying to sound bubbly and bright. I felt I was at an acting interview and I was at my best scintillating self trying to leave an impression on the man. He chuckled and I chalked one point on my mental scoreboard.
"You must meet some interesting people on your rounds," Susan said.
"I'll say...."
And I did as I suddenly had an enraptured audience as I described some of the milder encounters with the American public.
Ronald Alquist kept filling my glass and soon I was telling of my not so mild experiences as an enumerator.
"Right around the corner?" Susan asked incredulously. "What a harrowing tale. I suppose you're off sex for life."
I was brought up short by that one.
"No," I laughed. "That never crossed my mind."
"That's good to hear," the polished young man piped up.
A bell chimed somewhere and Susan rose and went to the stairway.
"That must be Calvin," her husband said. Meanwhile, the young man sat next to me and chatted away inanely about how unsafe it was for anyone to live in New York.
"Doug's a born hater of the city," Alquist interjected. "But when old Ronald has a new play ready to open he's down here away from his New Hampshire retreat and ready for business."
"I'd never resist an Alquist production, though it means walking through the fires of hell," Doug laughed.
"Well, I'm delighted to hear you're not off matters of the flesh," Ronald said. The two other women tittered. "Perhaps you'd like to partake. We're all very civilized here."
My mouth must have been open in astonishment.
"I didn't mean to shock you," he said. "You're free to go if you like, of course. But it is Thursday afternoon and we gather here for the joys of sex."
I was looking for words. But my mouth failed me. I was both intrigued and repelled by the offer. Before I could sort myself out Susan and a tall handsome man entered. His face rang a bell immediately.
"I think you know everyone except Samantha Bonno," she said to him.
The hint of recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Cal Ebsen, this is Samantha," she continued.
He snapped his fingers as my face and name snapped from his memory. "Colonel Bonno's daughter!"
"That's right. We saw you in Washington ...."
"With that flop," he said. "Christ, you were just a kid, then."
He cupped his suntanned face in his hand and shook his mane of hair in disbelief.
"This is fantastic," his dark eyes danced. It was as though we were the only two in the room. His eyes riveted through me and I felt my silly broad grin stretching my face. I was delighted to see him again.
Tiny pockets of sensation began popping in my innards and I felt myself melting with sexual attraction for him.
"Ahem," Ronald Alquist mumbled, breaking the spell momentarily. "I was just explaining to Miss Bonno our Thursday afternoon activity."
"Will you join us," Cal asked.
Again my tongue was tied.
"It all started out as a group encounter session, you see," Susan said. "We experimented with all of us in the nude as in Gestalt Therapy and one thing led to another ...."
"And another and another," Karen giggled lasciviously.
"So we put aside the clinical aspects of the whole thing," Alquist amplified. "And we enjoy each other's bodies."
It was simple, to the point and I was seduced. Particularly at the prospect of making love with Cal Ebsen.
"O.K., sure," my voice said.
"Marvelous," Susan beamed. "What are we waiting for?"
Everyone stood and ambled to a door near the fireplace. Alquist opened it and my eyes nearly bugged out as we stepped onto a room-sized mattress.
"Watch your step," Doug cautioned and I climbed six inches off the floor onto a springy soft surface that carpeted the entire room.
"We change in there," Karen said guiding my arm and we stepped through into a small dressing room. Marsha Spalding was already pulling her dress over her Italian cut hairdo. She poked some strands of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled. She had small, pert breasts with upturned nipples.
Susan touched the tips of Marsha's mounds and the two exchanged a tender look. Then Susan shed her lounging pajamas revealing a slim smooth torso. Karen asked me to unbutton her back-fastened dress and she removed it without hesitation. She unsnapped her finely laced bra and two fountain delights with bright red maraschino nipples spilled across her chest. I shrugged and unzipped my kulat ensemble. I had taken to wearing the half-pants outfit as a means of defense and here I was voluntarily stripping myself. When I hung up my panties I saw the three girls agape and staring at my bare mons veneris.
"It's an Indian style cut, compliments of Mrs. Simmons," I explained.
Susan's tongue curled around her lips and she smiled faintly.
"Becoming," she said leaning closer to glimpse my denuded patch. "Exciting, in fact."
Karen opened the door. "Let's pay our respects to the menfolk."
We filed out of the dressing room. I followed Marsha, fascinated by the curve of her back into sweeping dimpled buttocks. The three men were already seated in the center of the room. They rose on our entrance. It was so civilized and well mannered I wondered if it was going to be any fun.
A glance at the assembled equipment allayed my fears. Cal's peter was the longest, hanging weightily down his thigh. Ronald Alquist's balls sagged immensely pulling his rod close in. Doug's penis was already on the ascent at half-mast. I judged he would muster a good eight or nine inches when it quickened.
The three men were staring at my shorn pussy and I went through the same explanation.
"Now you mustn't stare," Susan admonished. Cal winked at me and beckoned me to sit by him. I did as we all sat in an irregular circle.
I was about to find my voice and ask what was to happen next when Ronald filled me in. "For the uninitiated in our midst we merely sit here maintaining eye contact with everyone else in the circle to detect who needs love the most."
I screwed up my nose. It sounded psychologically oriented. They hadn't really gotten away from the clinic encounter scene. But I wasn't about to break with tradition. I sat and stared into the eyes of Ronald, Doug, and Marsha who sat opposite me. I felt foolish as I saw Marsha trying to communicate with her eyes. I wasn't open I realized. I wasn't being receptive and I tried harder to concentrate and break down the barriers that I was surely building.
Cal touched my knee as though to reassure me and I began to take in Marsha, Ronald, Doug, and Susan with a newfound calm. Marsha seemed to be pleading with her eyes.
"Love me, love me," they said. In other circumstances I might have been ashamed at her honesty.
Cal moved first, crossing the circle to touch Marsha's face. Then Karen joined him. She kissed and fondled her toes. All focus was on Marsha now and Ronald followed by lightly tapping her thigh. His rod was lengthening as he ran his fingers across her smooth legs. Doug knelt and kissed her breasts. I suddenly felt impelled to register my love for Marsha. I crawled behind her head and stroked her hair, sharing that part of her anatomy with Cal. Susan squeezed between Cal and Doug and kissed her lips. Her eyes were almost brimming with tears.
If Marsha needed love, she was getting it in spades. Merely watching the tender hands fondling her body was enough to make my pussy churn with excitement. Hers must have been doing flip-flops. Hands and lips dusted her body. Doug began licking her belly while Karen slipped her fingers up Marsh's spread thighs. Her pussy was open and flexing with the stimulation.
Cal kissed Marsha's lips and she ground her butt into the soft mattress. Ronald's rod was stiff and ready.
He slithered up her legs and worked his thick prick into her oozing slot. She lurched with his penetration and then eased back to receive his gentle pumping.
The others and myself were hot and pulsing spurred by Marsha's desire and moans. Cal's hands and attention left Marsha. He had an arm around Susan and me. Karen was busy with Doug's long spear glistening with her saliva.
Cal lay back and Susan's mouth covered his. Her hand stroked his rigid prick. Meanwhile his hands cupped around my buttock and he worked his hand to my thighs, massaging my hairless mons.
Christ, I was seething like a fuse inside. I leaned over and licked the top of Cal's manhood. Susan grasped the throbbing beast in her fist but my mouth encircled his thick fleshy glans. His length expanded in my hot mouth and I sucked at it as though it were food of the gods.
Susan's fingers found my face and a moment passed when I wondered if I had infringed on her territory. But all was love and peace in these surroundings. She removed her hand and I had complete access to Cal's swelling sex. She crawled to Marsha and her husband and squeezed his rod as it pistoned in and out of the delirious Marsha.
Cal drew me into his arms and we rolled on the mattress so he lay atop me. His beautiful lips pressed into mine and I felt the head of his rod pushing into my slick channel. He penetrated easily and I drew him in deeper folding my legs at the knee. He felt as if he belonged there all of my life. His pelvis humped down and he drove in clear through to my cervix. My pussy clung tenaciously to his potent rod and I could tell he was enjoying himself genuinely. God knows I was.
He arched his hips and struck an incessant rhythm that made me writhe with joy. He slicked in and out of me until I was shaking with stimulation. His rod found a well-spring of response and my arms flopped helplessly as he plunged down snapping my clitoris in the process. His piece swelled unbelievably and what followed was a simultaneous explosion of our love juice. His come cascaded into me and mingled with my own sudden rush of sex secretion.
He plowed through our sticky mixture and I was floating on another star. His eyes told me I was more than just another receptacle for his sex.
My heart pounded with the sudden realization that I loved this man. Was i foolish to think that I was something special to him? His tender kisses melted my soul.
"You're beautiful," he whispered. "Jeezus, are you beautiful."
He was blushing and I kissed his red cheeks. "Come home with me, Samantha." There was nothing I wanted to do more. I felt entirely at peace and so very safe in his arms. "Say you will," he whispered urgently. "I will."
I closed my eyes and he stayed penetrated in me. The tears were streaming down my face. It was almost as though I had been searching for him, and now that he had found me we would never let each other go.
It was too incredible to be true, I decided, suddenly. I traced the lines in his forehead and tried to become hard, to make him seem like just another lover, no different from the bunch of studs who had gotten into my pants from the time back in Alaska. But I couldn't do it. Cal was special.
"Let's leave now," he said.
I looked around at the others in various throes of pleasure. The thought of sharing Cal with them blasted through my head.
"Let's," I agreed.
He pulled his beautiful body off mine and my pussy tingled as his full length slicked out of me. He crawled over to Susan, gave her a sisterly kiss and tapped Ronald on the shoulder. He simply raised his arm bidding us farewell. We held each other for a moment and went to our respective dressing rooms. I was high with buoyancy. I dressed quickly and opened the door to see him ready. He held out his arm and I sneaked under it. We left the five gleaming bodies to their pleasure and I embarked on my new venture.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do," Cal said as I opened the downstairs closet and pulled out my census kit. "Listen, Ronald has a script I'm reading. He's asked me to do the lead. I swear, if you can cut it, you've got the other role."
We spent the afternoon at his apartment, reading the script, and generally falling into complete love with one another.
Things were simply too good to be true I found myself thinking. The part was fabulous and the play, by one of the hottest playwrights on Broadway, had all the earmarks of success. There was even one brief nude scene, all the rage nowadays.
But best of all, Cal was truly in love with me.
"I'll call Ronald now and we can start rehearsals tomorrow," he said.
"But that's my last day for the census," I said feeling a certain loyalty to Davina.
"I don't want to let you out of my sight for an instant," he laughed. "I'll come with you."
Now it was my turn to laugh.
"What's the joke. From the sound of it you are in the most dangerous business in the world and if anybody is going to get you into bed you can bet it's going to be me and only me," Cal said firmly.
"What about Thursday afternoons," I asked slyly.
"You and me and no one else," he said brushing my hair from my face. "And that goes for the rest of the week too, for all the weeks there are."
He nibbled at my earlobe and the goose bumps sprouted everywhere.
"We haven't tried out my bed," he cajoled. "Want to?"
I didn't need a second invitation. I pulled his sweater over his head and kissed his stubbly chest. He nearly ripped my clothes off me but his gentle, loving hands made it all right. We went into his bedroom and his lips parted my pussy. I was primed in an instant. His hefty rod swelled between my fingers and he rocketed into my honey pod.
For the next hour we made love, coming together three times. He was enough man for me for a lifetime.
We were married the next week and opened in the biggest hit on Broadway two months later. During the sixth month of our run I informed him that we had the makings of another U.S. citizen in my womb. He was overjoyed. And so was I.