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“Follow me,” Jessica said. “Time to turn some heads.”
She winked and walked down the left aisle of the outdoor amphitheater. Rows of tree trunks - debarked, split in two, and finished - served as benches. Several couples sat on them, scattered across the space. Some chattered amongst themselves. Others faced forward quietly. Ron followed Jessica as she made her way towards the front and across a row until she reached a sunny spot. Before sitting down, she turned to look over the small crowd. The sunlight passed through her thin sun dress and warmed her skin. She grinned, imagining the silhouette of her bare breasts and legs illuminated for the gawking eyes of judgemental women and their lustful husbands.
“Hey, girl!”
Alice waved at her from three rows back. Brad sat next to her, his eyes trained on his feet. Alice nudged him.
“Look, Bubby. It’s our friends!” she said.
He glanced up and blushed as Jessica waved at him, blowing a kiss. Alice laughed and waved.
“Girl, you are too much!”
She has no idea, Jessica thought.
Her heart beat picked up, and a warm tingling sensation moved from her chest, down her abdomen, into her pussy as more eyes turned towards her body. Several seats over, Huda folded her arms across her chest and wore a smug grin as she stared. Jessica wondered what reasons inspired her stupid grin.
“Welcome, everyone! Please, take your seats.”
The resort director, Kalei Kahue, directed his voice to the group but eyed Jessica.
Jessica sat, leaned into Ron, and whispered.
“I think I just got in trouble.”
He snickered.
“Here at Second Chance Retreats, we know you are all here with different situations but the same goals. To enrich your relationships with your partners, to strengthen your commitments to them, and to grow deeper in love.”
Jessica’s throat thickened. The hardness of the tree trunk bench under her ass reminded her of the firm oak pews in her father’s church. The skin on the back of her neck prickled, sensing hateful eyes glaring at her from behind. For a moment, the image of Charles Gamble’s coffin flickered in her mind’s eye, resting in sharp focus behind the blur of the resort director walking back and forth and droning on about the virtues of love and marriage. She clenched the fist lying in her lap, and the tingling sensation in her body escalated to a buzzing vibration.
All your pomp and circumstance, she thought. I’m going to burn it down.
“Some of you have already met each other, but many of you have not, so I’d like to give each of you a chance to introduce yourselves and tell us something about your partner that you cherish. Who would like to go first?”
Huda’s voice sliced through the air and scraped Jessica’s eardrums.
“I would like to speak.”
“Of course, Mrs. Abbas. Thank you for volunteering,” said Kalei.
Jessica’s eyes met Ron’s, and she rolled them before grinning at him.
“My husband is a godly man, devoted to Allah. It makes me happy to honor him, as we do in our culture, by covering my body and keeping it only for him to see.”
“That’s beautiful, Mrs. Abbas. Does Mr. Abbas want to share anything?” Kalei said.
Jessica turned in her seat, and a devilish grin crept across her face as her eyes smoldered at Rayan. He stood, smiled, and waved at the group.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Rayan.”
He stuttered, folding his hands together in front of him.
“My wife, Huda, is a powerful woman. Strong in spirit. No one messes with her.”
His shoulders lifted towards his ears as he chuckled and looked back at Huda, who met his eyes with a tight-lipped grin. Ron whispered in Jessica’s ear.
“Well, we know that’s not true.”
Jessica cocked an eyebrow and smirked back at Ron. Rayan waved again to the group and sat back down.
“Wonderful. Who will go next?”
“I guess I’ll go.”
Rex stood up from his seat on the far side of the amphitheater. He towered over Jennifer, who stood up with him and nuzzled herself under his strapping arm. He wrapped it around her slender frame, and her doting eyes gazed up at him as he spoke.
“Well, Jenn is really smart. And, as you can see, she takes great care of her body. Fitness is a big deal to both of us.”
Jessica sat up straight, her eyes attentive to Rex’s moving lips, as her fingers crept across Ron’s thigh and slipped down between his legs. She wiggled her fingers, prompting him to spread them. He whispered in her ear.
“Um, what are you doing?”
She pushed the heel of her hand into his crotch and pressed her fingertips into Ron’s thigh, rubbing them up and down. His cock twitched against her subtle stimulation, and her eyes lit up as she smiled at Jennifer.
“Rex is my rock. I couldn’t live without him. And I can never get enough of him.”
Jessica continued her act, directing her attention to each couple as they spoke, while quickening the up and down grinding of her hand into Ron’s growing erection. The resort director turned towards them.
“How about the Strokers?”
Jessica turned to look at Ron with a wicked grin. His face glowed beet red, and the veins in his neck popped out.
“How about you, Ron? Why don’t you stand up and tell us something about Jessica?”
“Well, um...”
“C’mon, honey. Tell the nice people about me.”
He cast a glance aside at Jessica, grimacing. Then he groaned, rising as though suffering from arthritis, and his erection pushed a small but noticeable bump in the front of his shorts. Kalei pressed his lips together and locked his eyes on Ron’s. Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Jessica looked him up and down, smiling as she put a hand down on the bench and leaned back into it.
I’m evil, she thought.
“So, Jessica...”
He looked up at the sky and put his hands on his hips. Jessica tilted her head to the side and wrinkled her nose. His changing posture surprised her a bit. She wondered what he might say.
“My life would be pretty dull without her. I’m pretty straight-laced. I don’t take risks. Don’t venture outside my comfort zone much. No one would want to read my life story if I were the only author of it.”
He opened his eyes and looked down at Jessica. Tenderness filled them, and his lips curled up into a warm smile.
“But she came into my life and wrote on my soul with her electricity and her wild imagination. And it hasn’t all been highs. Some of it has been lows. Some of it has been very uncomfortable. But it made for a much more thrilling ride.”
Jessica’s eyes glistened as Ron placed a hand on her shoulder.
“She’s at the center of all the moments in my life when I felt most alive. I have no regrets,” he said.
Rex called out.
“Woo-hoo! Tell it, Sugar Ron!”
A warmth expanded through Jessica’s chest, and a prickle formed behind her eyes. Kalei interjected.
“Thanks for sharing that, Ron. How about you, Jessica?”
“Um...”
Jessica’s voice cracked, and she pressed her lips together as a tear welled up in her eye. She turned to look at Ron and smiled.
“He’s a good man.”
Her hand rose to her cheek and wiped the tear away to make way for another.
“I don’t deserve his love.”
Ron put an arm around her as she leaned her head on his shoulder. The warmth continued spreading through her body, and her head felt light. She melted into him and whispered.
“I’m sorry, Ron.”
He rubbed her thick, satiny brunette hair.
A pang shot from Jessica’s heart down the left side of her body, and she clenched her teeth. The ground beneath her feet felt distant.
Ugh, I hate feeling needy, she thought.
She took a deep breath and sat up, removing her head from Ron’s shoulder. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she straightened her spine and whispered again to Ron.
“Well, enough of that.”
Kalei gave some parting blessings and dismissed everyone. Jessica stood and perused the group as they made their way out of their seats and into the aisles. Then she snapped her head back to Ron and gave him a wry grin.
“What do you say we invite your boyfriend and his little shadow to join us for lunch?”
Ron’s eyebrows drew together.
“Umm...”
“Oh, c’mon, Sugar Ron. You two can talk about your next workout date plans.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the row towards Rex and Jennifer.
Time to plant more seeds, Jessica thought.
