Chapter 8

After a delicious, lazy Sunday with Pete, Gwen found it hard to do housework again. She had tasted the delights of marriage, and she wanted more and more. But Pete had to go back to work. And Gwen had to do the laundry and get groceries and cook meals and clean house.

She was ready for a change in the routine when Barbara Crawford phoned on Tuesday.

"Isobel and I are going to a fashion show tomorrow," said Barbara's cool voice. "We thought you might enjoy it."

"Oh, I'd love to, but-" Gwen hesitated. "I don't really want to buy anything." She blushed because she sounded so naive even to herself.

"I hardly ever buy at these things myself," said Barbara. "And the lunch is on me."

"Oh, I'll pay for my-"

"No, no, it's my treat," said Barbara.

Later Isobel phoned, and Gwen blurted a confession of her stupidity.

"I don't know what to say. I didn't mean I couldn't afford lunch-"

Isobel reassured her. "It's okay. Barbara always treats. She-likes to. She has pots of money. She hates going alone to things. She won't like it if you try to pay."

"I felt such a fool-"

"Don't we all sometimes!" said Isobel warmly. "Don't be a goose. Just come along and enjoy yourself."

On Wednesday, Barbara stopped for Gwen. Her car was a huge black Cadillac, so luxurious that Gwen gasped as she sat down on the smooth seat in back. Isobel was already in the car.

She soon found out why Barbara had invited her. On the long ride to the city both girls had little "words of warning" for her.

Barbara began, "We just wanted to speak to you about something, Gwen."

Gwen had been looking with pleasure at the luxurious fittings of the car. Barbara was driving along the highway at a high rate of speed, her white-gloved hands firmly on the wheel.

"Ah yes," said Gwen uneasily.

"You and Pete are part of the crowd now. You're really darlings, both of you. But we must warn you."

Isobel turned her blonde head and sent a quick flashing smile at Gwen. "For your own good, as everybody says," she commented cheerfully.

Gwen's answering smile was stiff. She clutched her pocketbook with cold hands. The Cadillac was air-conditioned, and seemed chilly after the warmth outside. "About what?"

"No one in the gang should be selfish," said Barbara. "Otherwise things don't go smoothly. Pete's an attractive man. You're a lovely girl. When you run out and go home at midnight, it just looks bad. You know?"

Gwen felt more and more cold. She stared blindly out the windows at the rows of identical houses in a suburban section as they passed.

"I tried to tell you, Gwen," Isobel said, when Gwen remained silent. "I told you we girls wanted a chance to make over Pete. He's a real doll."

"Terrific masculine attractiveness," Barbara drawled. "I go for him. Now, the other night, he was all set to respond when you dragged him away. How do you think I felt?"

"It wasn't fair," said Isobel plaintively.

Gwen swallowed. Her throat was so dry she couldn't speak.

Barbara glanced up at the rear-view mirror, to look at Gwen.

"Don't be upset," she admonished kindly. "You haven't been married long. You don't realize how bored a woman gets with her own husband. A girl really needs a change."

"Variety is the spice of life," Isobel chirped helpfully.

They meant it. They really meant it! Gwen began to realize the extent of the trading that went on in the gang. If a man wanted a girl, or a girl wanted a man fine. Go to bed. Have fun. Get some spicy variety. Then on to the next.

She rubbed her throat fiercely till she could speak. "I didn't understand," she said hoarsely.

Barbara smiled. "I thought you didn't. Isobel and I decided we'd give you a little warning. I'm sure Pete is willing to go along with us. Larry thought you needed some persuasion. He's hot for you, by the way."

"So is Don." said Isobel, as coolly as though she were not speaking of her own husband. "Don is just about crazy to make love to you. He told me all about it on Sunday, for hours! I finally told him to be quiet and I'd see what I could do."

Barbara and Isobel laughed. Gwen sat frozen as the girls began to speak of the fashion show, fall clothes, the new colors for fall. Her mind was in a turmoil of doubt, confusion, and desire.

Yes, she had to admit it. She felt desire for Don and for Larry. They were both experienced men, charming, able to please a girl. And they knew things. They knew what to do to make a girl know the keenest of pleasures.

Gwen plucked nervously at her skirt. Pete wanted to make love to other girls. In fact, Gwen knew he had made love to Karen. She had seen him do it. Perhaps he had made love to Barbara, to Isobel. She glanced at the smooth blonde heads in front of her, as though the heads could reveal whether Pete had caressed them or not.

Pete wanted to make love to others.

Gwen wanted to find out what Don and Larry could teach her.

Was it wrong? Were all her early teachings wrong?

She tried to survey the facts dispassionately. But one fact stood out. Early in her marriage, Pete had hurt her with his love-making. Now, since they both knew more, Gwen enjoyed Pete's actions.

So was the experience good?

Should they indulge in more?

In spite of her reluctance, her mind was stirred at the thought of what Don and Larry might teach her. The mysteries of sex were vast. Maybe maybe she could learn a great deal more, have even more wonderful tunes with Pete!

Gwen was silent and thoughtful through the fashion show and the delicious lunch that accompanied it. She also had a couple of daiquiris which made her feel more relaxed and amenable.

On the way home, she told the girls, timidly, 'I'll think about what you said. I don't want to be a wet blanket at the parties."

Isobel smiled warmly at her. Barbara nodded approvingly.

"That's the spirit," said Barbara. "If you'll just relax and have a good time, things will go much smoother. And I'm sure Pete will appreciate your unselfishness. Men like to stray a bit, if they just aren't made to feel guilty about it. He'll love you all the more because of it."

At home, Gwen thought over what the girls had said. It made sense. Men did like to stray. Pete had already strayed with Karen, in spite of the fact that he said he loved Gwen.

Maybe happiness, Gwen decided, was facing the facts of life and getting along as well as you could with them. Understand that a man liked several women even when that man loved just one.

Pete made love to her nights, and it was heavenly to lie in his arms. She was blissfully happy. Only the memory of Karen, and what the other girls had said remained to nag her.

Then on Saturday, Pete mowed the yard. It was a hot hot day in early July. He had stripped to his shorts and sandals, and looked, Gwen admitted, a magnificent specimen of manhood. She peeped out the window several times just to see him striding along behind the power mower. His tanned skin glistened in the sunlight. The black curly hair of his head, his chest and his legs made her want to run out and touch him. She ached for him.

Later, she heard voices. The power mower had stopped. Gwen was upstairs, making the large bed. She peeped out the window, half-hiding behind the curtains.

"Karen!" she muttered. Her blood pressure started upward.

The red-haired woman wore only the briefest of bikinis. A small triangle of cloth cupped each breast, the thinnest of straps held the cloths in place over the magnificent full mounds. Another small triangle covered her mound of Venus, with a small strap holding that in place. Gold sandals completed the outfit. If she had been naked, she could not have looked more outrageous to Gwen.

All of Barbara's and Isobel's arguments for unselfishness flew out of Gwen's head. She was furiously, ragingly jealous as Pete leaned on the handle of the mower and smiled down at the near-naked woman.

Karen put her hands on her naked hips and swayed back and forth on her gold sandals. Her body rippled with sensuous movement as she displayed herself to Pete. She flipped back her red hair, and once she reached out and put her hand on Pete's chest.

"Oh, that female! Oh, that bitch! Chasing my man! Oh, the gall of her!"

As Gwen glared angrily at the scene, she became aware of movement. She glanced across the lawn to the next house. In a window on the second floor stood a man, balding, short, red-faced. He too was looking at Karen and Pete, watching them for a long time.

Gwen wondered what Floyd Marshall was thinking as his gorgeous wife flirted openly with an intensely attractive man. Did he seethe with anger? Or was he calmly accustomed to her flirtations, knowing she always returned to him? She wished she could talk to Floyd and find out some answers. But it was difficult to talk to him. He smiled nervously when approached, and slid away at the first distraction.

Gwen's attention returned to Karen and Pete. Pete had started the mower again. Karen walked along beside him as he worked. They were not talking now. They were simply together, walking beside each other, two tremendously attractive people.

It frightened Gwen to see them. And fright made her foolish, she realized later.

When Pete came in for lunch, Gwen flew at him furiously.

"I wish you wouldn't make such a fool of yourself over that woman!"

"Huh what-" Pete scowled down at Gwen.

"That Karen! I saw you! She was falling all over you!"

Pete was red under his tan. "I have to wash up," he said sullenly, and stalked to the sink. He splashed water over his arms and chest, then reached for a towel.

"She's brazen!" Gwen complained. "That outfit! Why, she might as web be naked!"

"You sound like a country girl," sad Pete roughly. "That's what sophisticated women wear."

Gwen gasped at the shock, then plunged in again. "I don't like for her to chase you like that! Ah the neighbors could see-"

"Well, let them look! All we did was talk!" Pete sat down and glared at Gwen. "Any other complaints?"

"Plenty!" she shot back. Fright, the idea of losing him, made her reckless. "You liked being chased by that red-haired female! Well, I don't like it! You're my husband, and-"

"You don't own me!" Pete roared.

"What?" She stared at him.

"I said you don't own me! Marriage isn't a slave agreement. I'm free to do as I please!"

She swallowed. "And and I'm free to do as I want," she asserted, not very happily.

"Sure you are. Have I stopped you? Have I ever once said don't to you? Have I told you not to let Don or Larry screw you?"

He hadn't. No, he had never protested about their attentions. Limply, she sat down on the chair opposite Pete.

"But Pete, we belong to each other." she pleaded.

"That doesn't mean we can't have fun! And I mean to have plenty."

His words chilled her. She sat silent then as he ate hurriedly. He went out again, and she heard his voice and Karen's.

Gwen thought, "I don't want to lose Pete. But if I hold on too tight, I may lose him anyway. What is the right thing to do?"

And something added, "Don finds you attractive. Larry wants you. He's hot for you. Why don't you have fun? You have a right to be free! Pete takes his pleasure where he finds it! Why don't you?"

"Why don't I?" Gwen echoed mournfully.